Monotype Bug Monotype Team (NatDex Monotype)

[Error403HRD]

Intro​

Hi! I’m new to competitive. I’ve been a pokemon fan for years, and I’ve always loved building fun pokemon teams, but actually battling with them wasn’t something I did. It looked fun, but…people. So I decided that it was time to get over my anxiety, and the best way to do that was to build a team in a more restrictive meta, so not Ubers or even the Anything Goes builds that I was used to making. I decided on Monotypes because of my frankly unhealthy obsession with bug types. It was surprisingly fun to puzzle out how to improve my team, and I think I've finally hit a point that I'm confident sharing it, if only to get advice. I only had one self-imposed limitation: no legendaries, mythicals, or ultra beasts.

Team (Pokepaste)

Army (Armaldo)

Army (Armaldo) (M) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Battle Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 56 Def / 200 SpD
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
- Toxic
- Liquidation

Army is my opener and hazard clearer. He's made to be pretty bulky so he can take a hit, because he'll usually get outsped, so investing in speed isn't much of a priority. Liquidation is just in case a fire type is sent out, and Toxic is to take care of any pokemon that I know will become a nuisance later. Army was chosen because I needed a replacement for shuckle, but now he's the backbone of my team. I tend to switch him out as soon as his job's done so I can clear any midgame or late game hazards, or to set them back up in the case of defog users.

Jouley (Galvantula)

Jouley (Galvantula) (F) @ Magnet
Ability: Compound Eyes
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Rash Nature
- Discharge
- Energy Ball
- Leech Life
- Volt Switch

Jouley takes care of both water and flying types, I invested in speed almost as much as I could to ensure she wouldn't die before getting at least one hit in. She is the definition of a glass canon, but by using her as a pivot into electric moves, she's usually able to live one or two hits before she goes down. Her defense stats are abysmal, so I didn't see much point in trying to make her bulkier. She does her job, and she does it well, Leech Life is just in case she needs to get off another move, but I'm usually not upset if she dies anyway.

Queenie (Vespiquen)

Queenie (Vespiquen)
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 128 Def / 128 SpD
Adamant Nature
- U-turn
- Attack Order
- Acrobatics
- Roost

Queenie takes care of fellow bug types, ground types, or anything really. She's my main attacker and she's really good at it. As long as she isn't up against a rock, fire, or electric type, she'll usually live long enough to take at least one mon down with her. Very proud of her, she's a nuke. I invested in her defenses rather than speed because I want her to do more damage than Jouley, who's far more situational in her usage.

Whirly (Scolipede)

Whirly (Scolipede) (M) @ Wide Lens
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Toxic
- Poison Jab
- Megahorn

Whirly was supposed to be my main attacker, but he's turned into a last-minute nuke. I can't send him out in the beginning or middle of the battle because he doesn't last long enough to do anything, even against fairy types he's made of glass, so I send him out near the end when I know there's less chance that the opponent has anything that can handle him. It's an okay strategy, but he's still very likely to die if there isn't a pivot and the opponent has a surprise fire move. He's the main weakness of my team, and I'm not sure how to fix it.

Dewie (Araquanid)

Dewie (Araquanid) (F) @ Muscle Band
Ability: Water Bubble
EVs: 128 HP / 252 Atk / 128 Def
Adamant Nature
- Liquidation
- Leech Life
- Poison Jab
- Waterfall

Dewie is my beloved Fire Type Nuker, she's wonderful at her job, and people who haven't seen an araquanid very often don't understand that Water Bubble is fire-type specific, so they keep using fire moves instead of switching out because they assume she just has Really High SpD. Which, she does, but it's very funny. Most of the time people switch to an electric type move though, which lets me switch in Jouley practically for free. She also helps out Whirly as a pivot, if she's still alive by then.

Hairy (Heracross)

Hairy (Heracross) (M) @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 128 HP / 252 Atk / 128 Spe
Naughty Nature
- Facade
- Brick Break
- Bulk Up
- Knock Off

Hairy is my Volcarona replacement because she was annoying me (I couldn't ever get a chance to set up with her, so she was always just fodder), and he's my Ghost-Killer, whom I love. I didn't expect that role from him, but he does it well. His main purpose is to fight whatever Queenie struggles with and he does a fine job with it. I rarely get a chance to use Bulk Up, but I love it when I get to use it and facade in tandem.

Threat List​

Fire Teams, Steel Teams, Buzzwole, Belly Drum Azumarill, Nasty Plot/Hex Cofragrigus, Fairy Teams, Diancie
Frankly, a lot of these threats might just be because I'm bad at the game lol.

Replays​

A fight against a fairy team, I would’ve lost had they not forfeited, because I didn’t realize bug was weak to Fairy until now (an oversight because it's one of those bonkers type match ups), so I absolutely wasted Scolipede near the beginning. Maybe I could’ve taken down Clefairy, but not the rest of the team. I also forgot Stored Power was psychic type, so I sent in Heracross like a doofus.

A fight against an electric team, Another time I wasted Scolipede, and I started to get irritated with him and how I could rarely weaponize him.

A fight against a ghost team, Another instance of Scolipede being pretty much useless.

Conclusion​

So, yeah, I really like this team, and I've ironed out most of the kinks, but I have no idea how to improve it without removing Scolipede, which I really don't want to do. It's either that, or I'm going about using him entirely wrong.

 

[Neko]

Intro​

Hi! I’m new to competitive. I’ve been a pokemon fan for years, and I’ve always loved building fun pokemon teams, but actually battling with them wasn’t something I did. It looked fun, but…people. So I decided that it was time to get over my anxiety, and the best way to do that was to build a team in a more restrictive meta, so not Ubers or even the Anything Goes builds that I was used to making. I decided on Monotypes because of my frankly unhealthy obsession with bug types. It was surprisingly fun to puzzle out how to improve my team, and I think I've finally hit a point that I'm confident sharing it, if only to get advice. I only had one self-imposed limitation: no legendaries, mythicals, or ultra beasts.

Team (Pokepaste)

Army (Armaldo)

Army (Armaldo) (M) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Battle Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 56 Def / 200 SpD
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
- Toxic
- Liquidation

Army is my opener and hazard clearer. He's made to be pretty bulky so he can take a hit, because he'll usually get outsped, so investing in speed isn't much of a priority. Liquidation is just in case a fire type is sent out, and Toxic is to take care of any pokemon that I know will become a nuisance later. Army was chosen because I needed a replacement for shuckle, but now he's the backbone of my team. I tend to switch him out as soon as his job's done so I can clear any midgame or late game hazards, or to set them back up in the case of defog users.

Jouley (Galvantula)

Jouley (Galvantula) (F) @ Magnet
Ability: Compound Eyes
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Rash Nature
- Discharge
- Energy Ball
- Leech Life
- Volt Switch

Jouley takes care of both water and flying types, I invested in speed almost as much as I could to ensure she wouldn't die before getting at least one hit in. She is the definition of a glass canon, but by using her as a pivot into electric moves, she's usually able to live one or two hits before she goes down. Her defense stats are abysmal, so I didn't see much point in trying to make her bulkier. She does her job, and she does it well, Leech Life is just in case she needs to get off another move, but I'm usually not upset if she dies anyway.

Queenie (Vespiquen)

Queenie (Vespiquen)
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 128 Def / 128 SpD
Adamant Nature
- U-turn
- Attack Order
- Acrobatics
- Roost

Queenie takes care of fellow bug types, ground types, or anything really. She's my main attacker and she's really good at it. As long as she isn't up against a rock, fire, or electric type, she'll usually live long enough to take at least one mon down with her. Very proud of her, she's a nuke. I invested in her defenses rather than speed because I want her to do more damage than Jouley, who's far more situational in her usage.

Whirly (Scolipede)

Whirly (Scolipede) (M) @ Wide Lens
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Toxic
- Poison Jab
- Megahorn

Whirly was supposed to be my main attacker, but he's turned into a last-minute nuke. I can't send him out in the beginning or middle of the battle because he doesn't last long enough to do anything, even against fairy types he's made of glass, so I send him out near the end when I know there's less chance that the opponent has anything that can handle him. It's an okay strategy, but he's still very likely to die if there isn't a pivot and the opponent has a surprise fire move. He's the main weakness of my team, and I'm not sure how to fix it.

Dewie (Araquanid)

Dewie (Araquanid) (F) @ Muscle Band
Ability: Water Bubble
EVs: 128 HP / 252 Atk / 128 Def
Adamant Nature
- Liquidation
- Leech Life
- Poison Jab
- Waterfall

Dewie is my beloved Fire Type Nuker, she's wonderful at her job, and people who haven't seen an araquanid very often don't understand that Water Bubble is fire-type specific, so they keep using fire moves instead of switching out because they assume she just has Really High SpD. Which, she does, but it's very funny. Most of the time people switch to an electric type move though, which lets me switch in Jouley practically for free. She also helps out Whirly as a pivot, if she's still alive by then.

Hairy (Heracross)

Hairy (Heracross) (M) @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 128 HP / 252 Atk / 128 Spe
Naughty Nature
- Facade
- Brick Break
- Bulk Up
- Knock Off

Hairy is my Volcarona replacement because she was annoying me (I couldn't ever get a chance to set up with her, so she was always just fodder), and he's my Ghost-Killer, whom I love. I didn't expect that role from him, but he does it well. His main purpose is to fight whatever Queenie struggles with and he does a fine job with it. I rarely get a chance to use Bulk Up, but I love it when I get to use it and facade in tandem.

Threat List​

Fire Teams, Steel Teams, Buzzwole, Belly Drum Azumarill, Nasty Plot/Hex Cofragrigus, Fairy Teams, Diancie
Frankly, a lot of these threats might just be because I'm bad at the game lol.

Replays​

A fight against a fairy team, I would’ve lost had they not forfeited, because I didn’t realize bug was weak to Fairy until now (an oversight because it's one of those bonkers type match ups), so I absolutely wasted Scolipede near the beginning. Maybe I could’ve taken down Clefairy, but not the rest of the team. I also forgot Stored Power was psychic type, so I sent in Heracross like a doofus.

A fight against an electric team, Another time I wasted Scolipede, and I started to get irritated with him and how I could rarely weaponize him.

A fight against a ghost team, Another instance of Scolipede being pretty much useless.

Conclusion​

So, yeah, I really like this team, and I've ironed out most of the kinks, but I have no idea how to improve it without removing Scolipede, which I really don't want to do. It's either that, or I'm going about using him entirely wrong.

Hello, welcome to NatDex Mono!
Scolipede is kinda an odd mon imo, and while it can be scary, its pretty frail and needs a lot of support to work. Something like removing all steels, heavily wearing down steel birds like Celesteela, and removing walls have to happen if you want him to succeed. That being said, I could suggest a few changes to help Scoli be a bit more workable

Pokemon Changes:
->

Volcaroo

Volcarona @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Psychic
- Fiery Dance
- Hidden Power [Ground]

As mentioned awhile ago, Scoli needs Steel-types being gone to properly sweep, which means that Volcarona is pretty much a good asset to support him. Its also a special attacker, which compliments Scoli's capabilities as a Physical attacker. Psychic deals with Toxapex, a thing that kinda walls bug teams from one end to the other.

or ->

Bullet Puncher

Scizor-Mega @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 124 HP / 252 Atk / 132 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- Dual Wingbeat
- Knock Off / Superpower

You mentioned that the team struggles with Mega Diancie and Azumarill, so Mega Scizor becomes a decent asset with priority in Bullet Punch. It also has the perk of picking off stinkers such as Choice Scarf Galarian Zapdos, and cleaning types such as Dragon and Flying teams late-game. Dual Wingbeat helps lots with Mega Venusaur and Toxapex, Knock Off softens up physical walls such as P2 and Celesteela for Scoli, and also catches Tapu Lele switching in to neutralize Bullet Punch due to it setting Psychic Terrain, while Superpower chunks Celesteela, Ferrothorn, and Heatran. As the team doesn't really need removal, you could do away with Armaldo. Otherwise if you prefer removal (as it allows you to use a Z-move on Scoli too and setup a bit more easier) and Stealth Rocks, as a bit of chip goes a long way for Scolipede, then drop Galvantula (Take note that the matchup against Flying becomes slightly more harder here, as no one has the bolt-beam coverage it has).

The Speed EVs let it creep Azumarill, allowing you to Bullet Punch it before it does the funny Aqua Jet
->

Swole

Buzzwole @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge / Earthquake
- Leech Life / Earthquake
- Close Combat
- Ice Punch

The team lacks a choice scarf user (as types have Pokemon that are either hovering over webs, or use Heavy-Duty Boots). Buzzwole also acts as the cleanup crew after Scizor, Volcaroo, and Scoli have broken down the opposing team. After webs, it can sweep types fairly well as its mediocre speed is now much scarier

Edit: another suggestion when I asked Maroon would be utilizing a different set for Heracross, since Guts Heracross is an excellent team mate for Scoli as it breaks the bulky so that Scolipede can sweep much easier later. The only downside is that there's no immediately fast Pokemon if you do this, however:

Guts Hera

Heracross @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Facade
- Knock Off
- Close Combat

Set Changes:

If keeping Galvantula, and with Araquanid setting Sticky Web, it can run the following set to scare off types such as Flying and Water better.

Spooder

Galvantula @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Compound Eyes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Agility / Volt Switch
- Thunder
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Energy Ball

After an agility, its extremely fast that it outspeeds the typical revenge-killers such as Choice Scarf Greninja, Choice Scarf G.Zappy, and Mega Swampert in rain. Thunder + HP Ice is a massive threat for Flying teams, while Energy Ball lets it hit Swampert and Gastrodon.

him

Armaldo @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Adamant Nature
Ability: Battle Armor
EVs: 248 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
- Knock Off
- Stone Edge

Adamant nature lets you trade (OHKO) with Choice Specs Zapdos, while the rest in SpD to better tank hits from Hurricane and Fire-type spammers such as Tornadus-T, Volcarona, and Mega Charizard-Y. Knock Off lets it remove pesky items from Galarian Zapdos, Celesteela, and Victini (you live a V-Create).

Spooder 2

Araquanid @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Water Bubble
EVs: 252 HP / 100 Atk / 156 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sticky Web
- Liquidation
- Mirror Coat
- Magic Coat

Araquanid's great natural bulk lets it shrug off a lot of attacks usually, allowing it to not run a Focus Sash. Mirror Coat lets it counter threats such as Kommonium-Z Kommo-o, and other special attackers. Magic Coat lets you bounce back entry hazards and Taunt (in the case of Cobalion). Speed investment lets it outspeed and weaken Celesteela a bit more.

Scoli

Scolipede @ Heavy-Duty Boots / Life Orb / Waterium Z
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature / Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Megahorn
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide / Aqua Tail

Poison Jab isnt really that nice of a coverage for Scolipede, primarily because Mega Scizor already does a number against Fairy teams. Megahorn lets you deal with Slowbro and Mega Swampert, Earthquake deals with Toxapex, and Rock Slide deals with Birds like Mandibuzz and Mega Char-Y. Waterium is a funny option to wipe the floor with Landorus and Celesteela, but don't use it if you have a Galvantula (HP Ice + Thunder deals with it already). Life Orb lets you have good odds of sweeping Poison and Water should you be able to use Swords Dance, OHKOing Pex after Stealth Rock Damage, Mega Swampert, and Mega Venu too after some chip. Adamant lets you almost OHKO Celesteela and Corv with Waterium at +2 (they don't run maximum defense), as well as having better odds in killing stuff in general, but losing the ability to outspeed Mega Swampert after a Speed boost, as well as being able to threaten out Mega Charizard-Y without a speed boost is pretty notable.

scarf

Heracross @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Moxie / Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Pursuit / Megahorn
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- Knock Off / Pursuit

In case the Mythical restriction is in place and you dont want Guts Heracross. It goes over Buzzwole. Heracross however is a bit worse than Buzzwole due to the lack of Ice Punch though...

Here is the team with Galvantula
Here is the team with Armaldo
I hope this helped

 

[Mada]

Hi, neko did a great job but i also wanted to help you with this team and eventually make a couple of different changes so you can get an extra option to test.

Major changes:
:mega-pinsir: > While i like Vespiquen myself, it doesn't find space in Bug teams as you like to cover different roles and it doesn't really bring much if not a slow bulky pivot which isn't even that good. Mega Pinsir is a valid alternative to Mega Scizor, it's Swords Dance set can break through many teams and with Webs it can even try to run Adamant, which makes him a really scary wallbreaker that can even claim many kills with +2 Quick Attack.

> Volcarona is really strong and pretty much needed in every Bug team, the QD set is just a powerful wallbreaker that can easily overwhelm many types. We can also avoid running HP Ground here as this team has many breakers for Steel, so we got a free space to extra coverage and we can run a Z move for extra breaking power.

> Buzzwole can be a really good Choice Scarf, while i don't really love Galvantula here as we will use Webs on Araquanid and i mainly love Galvantula for webs, altho thunder + hp ice can help with flying Matchup and eventually even Water. Buzzwole can be a good endgame cleaner against types such as Ice, Dragon, Electric, Flying, and Dragon.


Sets changes:
U want a bulkier set with Webs. I believe neko's set is good altho i also like Toxic over Magic Coat.

Not sure why it is running Waterfall, both Edgequake and Edge + Koff can be fine to either chip opposing teams and annoying mons such as Zapdos / Tornadus or to wear down them by removing their boots, while Eq can be a safest way to attack Fire types without missing, great to avoid Roost on mons like Zapdos and can provide some chip on Steel / Poison Types altho it hasn't an high attack and this team doesn't really need it.

Flame Orb Heracross can be really good to destroy slower types such as Poison and Steel or Stall versions of Flying/Water. It can also usually always claim a kill and get traded with annoying mons such as Zapdos, allowing the other breakers to sweep more easily. We want a maximum Speed investment with SD to boost us and EQ + CC to completely destroy Poison and Steel matchups.

Another consideration u can make is Forretress>Armaldo as it can pivot easily with Volt Switch or even Explosion, so that u can start breaking easily without giving your opponent any chance to Defog.

Set

Heracross @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Facade
- Earthquake

The team would look like this :
https://pokepast.es/a4c08b0cf7d4fb93

I hope this helped and gave u another option u would be able to try, let me know if you have any questions