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Welcome to the latest edition of the Team Rater Competition! The tier this time around will be SS Monotype. For each round we'll post a team, and participants will have one week to complete a rate of said team. When the round is over, the participants who submitted the best rates will move onto the next round. If you are eliminated and want to receive feedback on your rate, the hosts will be more than happy to provide that upon request. Each round will last one week. Failure to rate the team within the one week time period will result in disqualification unless you're able to give us a valid reason. Please only sign up if you can commit to rating one team every week for the next month. If you're currently involved in or are looking to start rating Monotype teams, I highly encourage you to participate as this promises to be a great learning experience. Here's to a fun and competitive tournament!
Important notes:
The top two rates from each round in addition to the rates in the final round will count towards the Team Rater badge
Each round will last one week. Failure to rate the team within the one week time period will result in disqualification unless you're able to give us a valid reason. Please only sign up if you can commit to rating one team every week for the next month.
Please submit your rates to the hosts via Smogon conversation.
If you are eliminated and would like some feedback on your rate and how you can improve going forward, feel free to ask us.
At the end of each round, we will announce the best rate from that round and a quick overview of what we liked in the rates submitted.
Before we move on to the team for Round 3, we'd like to highlight the top rate from Round 2; congratulations to Harpp! He started off by giving Garchomp Swords Dance and Stone Edge, making it a bigger threat for some teams to deal with now that its able to boost its already high Attack. Then he replaced Dragonite with Kyurem which is a great call as Kyurem is one of the best Dragon-types and Dragonite has fallen off in the current meta. His next change was Choice Band over Choice Scarf on Dracovish, making it an insanely powerful wallbreaker, and added Outrage over Leech Life as even Grass-types aren't comfortable switching in on Fishious Rend and Outrage. Then he proceeded to swap out Latias for Dragalge which provides a solid check to Fairy-types as well as Toxic Spikes and a bulky pivot with Flip Turn. His final change was adding Choice Scarf on Dragapult to make up for the loss of Choice Scarf Latias which is a solid suggestion.
Dracovish @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Strong Jaw
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fishious Rend
- Crunch
- Psychic Fangs
- Leech Life
Pretty good team right there! But it can make use of some changes to make it even better! I am going to propose some changes with which the team which will be much more better and effective.
The first change I would like to propose is to use a Stealth Rock + Swords Dance Garchomp as this not only lets set up Stealth Rock like it should but also lets it be a setup sweeper after it has set Stealth Rock, letting it weaken Pokemon such as Celesteela and Skarmory early on! Which makes it easier for its offensive teammates to deal with such defensive behemoths. Proposed set:
Garchomp @ Focus Sash
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock
The second change I would like to propose is to use Kyurem over Dragonite as Kyurem is really good at threatening a multitude of types like Water, Poison, Ground and can PP stall threats like Galarian Slowking and Celesteela! Making it really annoying to face for such types. Proposed set:
56 HP evs give it a Substitute that requires two Seismic Toss or Night Shade to break it.
For the next change, I would like to suggest to use a Choice Band Dracovish over Choice Scarf, Choice Band Dracovish opens up Pokemon for the team in a way that no other Pokemon on Dragon-type team can and against Pokemon which can take on Dracovish like Water Absorb Gastrodon and Jellicent, Kyurem preys upon such Pokemon so they have a great offensive syngery which is important in a team. Dracovish with a Choice Band can easily break apart types like Poison for Kyurem and Dragapult to win.
Dracovish @ Choice Band
Ability: Strong Jaw
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Fishious Rend
- Outrage
- Psychic Fangs
- Crunch
I also went for Outrage over Leech Life as this is a Choice Band set and even Grass-types will have trouble taking it on and STAB Outrage will come handy.
Next I would like to suggest to use Dragalge over Latias, Dragalge is really good on Dragon as a slow pivot, check to Fairy-type Pokemon, Toxic Spikes user and absorber for the team which the team greatly benefits from. Toxic Spikes is loved by Kyurem while slow pivoting is much appreciated by Choice Band Dracovish. Dragalge can also check threatening setup sweepers like Volcarona by running Gunk Shot! Proposed set:
Dragalge @ Black Sludge
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Gunk Shot
- Protect
- Toxic Spikes
- Flip Turn
Since we are using Dragalge over Choice Scarf Latias, now we need Speed control which would be our Dragapult now. With a Choice Scarf it can keep a lot of Pokemon in check like Choice Scarf Tapu Lele and improve mirror matchup for Dragon-type team by a lot! It also has U-turn to bring in wallbreaker like Dracovish or Kyurem to deal with walls.
To summarize the changes, I proposed for the following:
Kyurem over Dragonite.
Dragalge over Latias.
SD + Stealth Rock Garchomp
Choice Band Dracovish over Choice Scarf.
Choice Scarf Dragapult.
Garchomp @ Focus Sash
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock
Tapu Koko is a staple on Electric-type teams thanks to its Electric Surge ability, amazing Speed, and Fairy-typing so obviously it's the first member on the team. Thunderbolt and Dazzling Gleam are for STAB, U-turn allows it to pivot out against Electric immunities and Toxic is useful for putting Ground-types and other Pokemon such as Thundurus-T on a timer. Heavy-Duty Boots lets Tapu Koko avoid taking hazards damage so it can stay healthy and set up Electric Terrain as much as possible.
The next Pokemon is another staple on Electric and that's Alolan Raichu which capitalizes on Tapu Koko's ability to set up Electric Terrain thanks to its Surge Surfer ability making it incredibly fast. Rising Voltage is a very powerful STAB move during terrain, Psyshock is for secondary STAB and lets it surprise specially defensive Pokemon such as Zapdos, and the final two attacks provide useful coverage; Grass Knot hits Ground-types such as Gastrodon and Hippowdon, whereas Focus Blast hits Pokemon such as Excadrill and Ferrothorn.
Zeraora @ Expert Belt
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Bulk Up
- Plasma Fists
- Close Combat
- Play Rough
Zeraora is the best physical attacker on Electric thanks to its Speed, coverage, and power. Bulk Up boosts its Attack and Defense, making it a dangerous set up Pokemon. Plasma Fists is its strongest STAB move, Close Combat is for Pokemon such as Excadrill, Ferrothorn, Heatran, and Kyurem, and Play Rough is mainly for Dragon-types such as Dracovish and Hydreigon. Expert Belt lets you bluff a Choice-item and gives you an extra boost in power when hitting Pokemon super effectively.
Zapdos provides a Ground-immunity and hazard removal. Heat Wave hits Excadrill and Volt Switch allows it to safely bring in one of its teammates. Heavy-Duty Boots allows it to Defog more consistently because it avoids taking Stealth Rock damage.
Regieleki @ Choice Specs
Ability: Transistor
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Rising Voltage
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Ancient Power
Regieleki is an insanely powerful and insanely fast wallbreaker that many teams may struggle to deal with. Its Speed is so high that it outspeeds most Choice Scarf users, and its Transistor ability paired with Choice Specs and Electric Terrain makes its Electric-type attacks nearly impossible to switch in on unless your opponent has an Electric immunity. Ancient Power is mostly filler because this thing doesn't have coverage, but it does hit Thundurus-T and Alolan Marowak.
Dracozolt is a powerful pick with solid coverage that makes some matchups easier. The combination of Bolt Beak, Earthquake, and Fire Fang is very threatening for Steel-type teams, and Substitute allows it to avoid getting revenge killed by Excadrill. Wide Lens gives it a little boost in accuracy to patch up the drop from Hustle.
Tapu Koko @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Dazzling Gleam
- U-turn
- Toxic
