Monotype: Not All Types Are Equal

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Introduction

In the current Monotype metagame, Flying and Water teams dominate, while Ice and Electric teams are not used as often. This is because Monotype is a type based metagame, meaning that not all types are equal. Many important factors determine whether a type is viable or not, such as its defensive capabilities, the ability to cover its weakness, and access to viable Pokémon.

What makes a type viable?

Many top-tier types such as Flying, Steel, Water, and Psychic have specific qualities such as a reliable defensive backbone, the ability to cover its weaknesses, and access to viable Pokémon, to name a few. A good defensive backbone is key to being a viable type in Monotype. Some types only possess some of these qualities but don't have others and are often considered mid-tier types, such as Bug and Normal. Normal doesn't have a reliable Fighting-type check, while Bug has a glaring weakness to Stealth Rock. Top-tier types such as Psychic and Flying have good defensive backbones in Slowbro + Mew and Skarmory + Zapdos. The ability for a type to cover its weaknesses mainly calls for the question, "does the type have a viable immunity or a reliable neutrality to its weakness?" Top-tier types such as Flying and Water have reliable answers for Electric-type Pokémon, which they're weak to, in Zapdos and Lanturn, respectively. Other top-tier types such as Psychic cover their weakness offensively with the Mega Gardevoir + Victini + Hoopa-U core. Psychic, instead of directly countering all of the weakness, checks all of its weaknesses. Another important yet overlooked aspect is the number of viable Pokémon that the type has access to. Top-tier types such as Flying, Psychic, and Water are gifted with many top-tier Pokémon such as Landorus, Mega Medicham, and Keldeo. The main aspect of viability is the typing itself. For example, Water only has two weakness to Grass and Electric, meaning that it has fewer weaknesses to worry about.

Let's take a look at some viable types and see what makes them viable.

Flying

Flying is often considered to be the best type because it has specific qualities defensively and offensively.

Balanced Flying

Defensively, Flying has the powerful Skarmory + Zapdos core. Skarmory serves as the main physical wall and provides Stealth Rock, and on top of all of this, it has reliable recovery in Roost. Also, its amazing Steel / Flying typing gives Skarmory key neutralities to Ice- and Rock-type attacks. Zapdos on the other hand is a reliable Defogger and has the excellent Electric / Flying typing, which means Electric-type attacks hit for neutral damage. The core of Skarmory + Zapdos serves as great framework for most Flying-type teams. However, Flying can run other additions defensively, which make it even more appealing to use. Defensive additions such as Tornadus-T, Landorus-T, and Gliscor relieve pressure off of Skarmory and Zapdos. Tornadus-T, although not as common as it once was, is still a viable option because of Regenerator and its access to utility moves, such as Knock Off and U-turn. Landorus-T can be used defensively thanks to Intimidate, allowing it wall certain threats such as Choice Scarf Terrakion. Landorus-T also relieves pressure from Skarmory, as its access to Stealth Rock allows Skarmory to run Defog or Spikes instead, and it provides a second physical wall. Gliscor, on the other hand, is often considered one of the best stallbreakers Monotype has to offer. Gliscor has access to support moves, such as Toxic and Taunt. On top of the number of support moves Gliscor has access to, Gliscor also has the Poison Heal ability, allowing it to recover a lot of health and be immune to other status effects. Gliscor's Ground / Flying typing complements Zapdos and Skarmory extremely well, providing a secondary neutrality to Rock-type attacks and an Electric immunity. Gliscor also walls Mega Diancie with a specially defensive spread, allowing Skarmory to run Brave Bird instead of Iron Head.

Offensively, Flying is gifted with many viable options such Landorus, Mega Charizard Y, Mega Gyarados, Togekiss, and Dragonite. A major reason why Flying is dominant force in the metagame is because the type is gifted with two viable Mega Evolutions. Mega Gyarados is often considered the better option of the two because of its better bulk because it is a great late-game sweeper with Dragon Dance, cleaning up unprepared teams with ease. The other Mega Evolution on Flying, Mega Charizard Y, is an excellent wallbreaker, having very few reliable switch-ins in the Monotype metagame. Although Mega Charizard Y is great, it has a glaring 4x weakness to Stealth Rock, meaning that Defog support is extremely necessary. Flying often needs to run a Choice Scarf user to act as a revenge killer, and Pokémon such as Landorus-T, Togekiss, and Thundurus-T are used to fulfill that role. Landorus-T can fill the role quite nicely because of its coverage moves, such as Stone Edge, Knock Off, and Superpower. Thundurus-T, although not very common, can be used as a Choice Scarf revenge killer because of its base 101 Speed, allowing it to outspeed the crowded base 100 Speed tier. Togekiss is often considered the best Choice Scarf user because it provides a much-needed Flying-type STAB attack in Air Slash. Togekiss also has great coverage moves in Fire Blast and Aura Sphere, allowing it to check Steel-types, such as Ferrothorn and Bisharp. In addition, Trick allows Togekiss to cripple walls such as Chansey and Porygon2. Togekiss also has good natural bulk, allowing it to tank most hits. Thundurus is a unique offensive Pokémon because of its Speed and Prankster. Thundurus's main niche is its priority Thunder Wave, allowing it to slow down threats such as Choice Scarf Kyurem-B, although it also has other support moves such as Nasty Plot and Taunt. Landorus is often considered one of the best offensive Pokémon on Flying because it has the ability to single-handedly sweep Steel teams with little to no effort. Landorus has a great movepool consisting of moves such as Earth Power, Sludge Wave, and Focus Blast. Landorus greatly strengthens certain matchups and is a major contributor to Flying being a dominant force in the metagame. Flying has many viable options offensively, meaning that Flying has many choices when teambuilding.

Offensive Flying

Although balanced Flying may be the best option when building a Flying-type team, offensive Flying is viable as well. Unlike balanced Flying, offensive Flying does not utilize the Skarmory + Zapdos core but instead relies on bulky offensive Pokémon such as Landorus-T and Mega Charizard Y to tank hits. Offensive Flying usually consists of a suicide lead in Aerodactyl, Mega Charizard Y, an offensive Defogger, and three other offensive Pokémon. The playstyle, although not as good as balanced Flying, is still a viable option.

Water

Water, like Flying, has access to many viable Pokémon, but unlike Flying, it can utilize three different archetypes effectively.

Balanced Water

Balanced Water is the most popular out of the three archetypes because it has the most freedom when teambuilding. Most balanced Water teams start with a defensive core. The two most common defensive cores are usually Lanturn + Empoleon and Swampert + Tentacruel. Both of these cores wall similar Pokémon, but they struggle against different threats. The Lanturn + Empoleon core struggles against Ground-type Pokémon, mainly Excadrill, while the Swampert + Tentacruel core is extremely weak to Grass Knot Thundurus. These cores have some flaws but offer freedom when teambuilding. Keldeo is a must on every balanced Water team because it gives Water teams an advantage against Steel and Normal teams, which most Water teams without Keldeo struggle against. Water is also gifted with two equally viable Mega Evolutions in Mega Sharpedo and Mega Gyarados. Mega Sharpedo and Mega Gyarados serve similar roles but are slightly different. Mega Sharpedo is used for immediate power, while Mega Gyarados is used for its access to Dragon Dance and better bulk. The main appeal of balanced Water is that the last two slots are open for the builder to choose, with many viable Pokémon such as Manaphy, Azumarill, and Slowbro being good choices. Cloyster and Volcanion serve somewhat similar roles because they make it easier to break through Flying and Grass teams. Slowbro and Rotom-W provide a dedicated physical wall, which most balanced Water teams lack. Manaphy is used to break common defensive cores because of its access to Tail Glow and has excellent coverage. Azumarill is often using a Choice Band set, and it acts as the main Dragon-type check. Azumarill also has priority in Aqua Jet to help revenge kill threats. The amount of freedom Water has when teambuilding, the ability to cover its weakness, and the immense number of viable Pokémon Water has access to make balanced Water a viable archetype.

Swift Swim (Offensive Water)

Swift Swim Water, which is often considered offensive Water, is another viable archetype. Politoed is a must on Swift Swim teams, as it sets up rain for five turns with Drizzle. Another must on Swift Swim teams is Kingdra because of its good Water / Dragon typing and the Swift Swim ability, which doubles its Speed in rain. Kingdra should hold Choice Specs to boost its otherwise mediocre Special Attack. Swift Swim Water, like balanced Water, has a choice in which Mega Evolution it uses. The two candidates for the role are Mega Sharpedo and Mega Swampert. Mega Sharpedo is used because Swift Swim Water often struggle with Psychic, and it can function with or without rain. Mega Swampert, on the other hand, is a good sweeper because of the Swift Swim ability it acquires upon Mega Evolution. Mega Swampert is often considered less practical, as it wastes two turns of rain before it can reap the rewards. This usually leaves Swift Swim teams without a Stealth Rock user, meaning that Seismitoad is used to fill the void. Seismitoad sports the same Water / Ground typing as Mega Swampert and also has the Swift Swim ability. Keldeo is also necessary, as it gives Swift Swim Water a wincon against Steel and Normal teams. After the key components of a Swift Swim Water team are added, there are two open slots, in which Pokémon such as Rotom-W, Ludicolo, Manaphy, and Azumarill can be used. Rotom-W is used as a fast pivot with Choice Scarf. Azumarill is used for its good bulk and often uses Choice Band in an attempt to break walls. Ludicolo, although not the best option, all but guarantees a win against Ground teams with its Grass-type coverage. Manaphy can utilize the physically defensive Calm Mind set with Rest because of Hydration, which allows it to cure status at the end of the turn if under rain. Swift Swim Water is a viable archetype because of the number of viable Pokémon that Water has to offer.

Stall Water

Although not as common as it once was, stall Water is still a viable archetype. Stall Water is very straightforward and has little room for change. The Pokémon that should be on every stall Water are Alomomola, Empoleon, Quagsire, Lanturn, and Azumarill. The main quality that makes stall Water a viable option is the ability to cover all of its weakness. Azumarill runs Sap Sipper, which provides a much-needed Grass immunity, while Lanturn and Quagsire provide an Electric immunity. Stall Water also has another major asset, which is a reliable Wish Passer in Alomomola, which in turn allows stall Water to switch into most attacks. The last feature is the ability to stop setup sweepers, for which Unaware Quagsire is used. The last slot is up to preference of the user. Sometimes offensive Pokémon such as Keldeo and Manaphy are used so that stallbreaker Gliscor does not sweep the entire team on its own. Other defensive additions such as Tentacruel and Slowbro are used to increase stall Water's defensive capabilities. Stall Water is considered the best stall build that Monotype has to offer because of its ability to cover almost every offensive threat in Monotype.

Water is unique because it can utilize three different viable archetypes. This in turn means that Water doesn't have any bad matchups, barring Grass, in theory.

What hurts a type's viability?

Some types are not blessed with as many good qualities, so in turn they are not as viable. Fire is a great offensive type, but it is a victim to a major flaw: being weak to Stealth Rock. This single-handedly changes Fire from a top-tier type to a mid-tier type and also makes reliable entry hazard removal extremely important, so Torkoal, a Pokémon that would never be considered viable, is used for its access to Rapid Spin. Another major factor is how good the typing is defensively. Typings such as Ice and Rock suffer from being weak to many common types and having few helpful resistances. Another reason why certain types aren't as viable is the number of viable Pokémon that are available on the type. An example of this is Ghost, having very few viable options, meaning that most Ghost teams look relatively the same. The biggest reason why a type isn't as viable is an inability to cover its weakness effectively. Ice struggles with covering its weaknesses and often loses those matchups, such as against Fighting teams.

Let's look at some lower-tier types and see what makes them not as viable.

Ice

Ice, unlike other lower-tier types, is gifted with good Pokémon such as Weavile, Kyurem-B, and Mamoswine, but it loses viability due to other reasons. The main Achilles heel of Ice is the major weakness to Stealth Rock, meaning that Avalugg, a normally unviable Pokémon, is necessary to remove hazards. Mega Scizor is also a major threat to Ice, which means that either Walrein or Lapras needs to be used so Mega Scizor doesn't sweep from Team Preview. Pure Ice is an awful defensive typing, offering one resistance and four weaknesses. This means that defensively, Ice-type Pokémon aren't as viable as defensive Pokémon from other types. Matchups such as Fighting, Bug, Steel, Fairy, and Fire are ridiculously hard to win because of the lack of a consistent defensive presence. Although certain Pokémon such as Froslass and Cloyster can give Ice a slim chance of winning these disadvantageous matchups, they come at very high opportunity costs. Froslass is used to give Ice a pseudo-Mega Medicham check, but it fails to check Mega Medicham and other Fighting-types effectively because of its terrible bulk and lack of recovery. Cloyster similarly gives Ice a slim chance against Fire, but Fire almost always carries multiple priority users and doesn't have much trouble keeping Stealth Rock on the field. Mega Evolutions often define a type, but Ice has two mediocre Mega Evolutions in Mega Glalie and Mega Abomasnow that aren't even as good as other Ice-type Pokémon such as Piloswine and Aurorus. Unlike top-tier types, Ice's only viable playstyle is offense, which still struggles in the current Monotype metagame. Ice needs to prepare for multiple threats, but because it can't prepare for every threat, it isn't as viable as other options.

Although Monotype favors balanced builds, offensive types can succeed. Fighting is the best offensive type in Monotype because it has certain qualities that Ice doesn't have. The main difference is in the typings' defensive capabilities, as Fighting is only weak to Flying, Fairy, and Psychic, while Ice has four weaknesses. Although having one more weaknesses may not seem detrimental, it comes down to what types Ice is weak to. Ice is weak to common priority in Mach Punch and Bullet Punch, which means that Ice-type Pokémon can be easily revenged killed. Ice also has a weaknesses to Rock, which makes it vulnerable to Stealth Rock. To top it all off, its last weakness is Fire and Fire-type coverage is very common. On the contrary, Fighting is weak to Flying and Psychic, which are uncommon attacking types. Another quality Ice doesn't have is the ability to offensively check its weaknesses. Ice does have viable Pokémon but doesn't have many reliable answers to most of its weaknesses. On the other hand, Fighting has offensive checks to all of its weakness in Terrakion for Flying, Heracross for Psychic, and Cobalion and / or Mega Medicham for Fairy. Another minor yet overlooked quality that Ice lacks, but Fighting has, is viable Mega Evolutions. Ice has Mega Abomasnow and Mega Glalie, which are mediocre Mega Evolutions at best, whereas Fighting has two viable Mega Evolutions in Mega Gallade and Mega Medicham. Although Mega Medicham and Mega Gallade have the same typing, they perform different roles; Mega Gallade performs the role of the sweeper, while Mega Medicham is a wallbreaker. Fighting, unlike Ice, can check all of its weakness, has better Mega Evolutions, and better defensive capabilities, making it a better offensive type.

Electric

Electric is another type that isn't extremely viable in Monotype. The main reason Electric isn't that good is because it lacks strong physical attackers. Electric only has three average physical attackers at best in Eelektross, Luxray, and Electivire. All of these options fail to break common physical walls, such as Porygon2, Hippowdon, and Mega Venusaur. Electric also does not have much flexibility when teambuilding because most Electric teams require Rotom-W, Zapdos, Thundurus, and Magnezone. The next slot is often reserved for Mega Ampharos or Mega Manectric, depending on the preference of the builder. The last slot is very hard to choose because, no matter what Pokémon is chosen, multiple flaws will still be present. The last slot is either occupied by Raikou, Luxray, Electivire, or Eelektross in an effort to patch certain weaknesses. Raikou often uses Substitute + Calm Mind with Extrasensory in an effort to beat Mega Venusaur but is walled by Ferrothorn on Grass. Luxray was originally used to beat Mega Sableye, but since Mega Sableye is banned, it isn't as necessary. Electivire often fails to pick up certain KOs but has good coverage for an added factor of unpredictability. Eelektross is used for its access to Knock Off but is very slow and, like Electivire, fails to pick up KOs. Electric has trouble breaking walls, especially special walls such as Chansey and Zapdos, meaning that certain matchups become very challenging. On top of all of this, Electric relies on momentum, and it lacks a viable Stealth Rock user. Therefore, Electric struggles to take advantage of many switches and fails to pick up certain KOs. Electric lacks necessary physical wallbreakers for it to be a primary option.

Electric isn't as good as other types that run balanced builds. A prime example of this is Psychic, which has many viable options to choose from. The main feature Psychic has is a choice of viable Stealth Rock users, being able to rely on either Mew or Jirachi to provide the entry hazard. Unlike Stunfisk on Electric, Mew and Jirachi serve different roles outside of setting Stealth Rock. Mew can serve as a Bisharp check because of its base 100 Speed and access to Will-O-Wisp. Jirachi, on the other hand, has access to Wish, which heals Jirachi and its teammates. Offensively, Psychic has many good wallbreakers in Choice Specs Meloetta, Choice Specs Hoopa-U, Mega Gardevoir, and Mega Medicham. Electric doesn't have many wallbreakers, needing to resort to other options such as Choice Band Thundurus in order to break special walls. Although some Psychic teams lack physical wallbreakers, Psychic is still able to break most teams with relative ease. Psychic also has many variations of balanced teams. Psychic teams typically use Victini, Slowbro, and Mew. Victini is generally used as a check to Bug-types and has access to U-turn, enabling it to punish switches. Slowbro is used as the primary physical wall and typically uses Thunder Wave to slow down foes. Mew is usually the Stealth Rock setter and has access to Will-O-Wisp, enabling it to check Bisharp. The most popular variation of balanced Psychic is using the Mega Medicham + Choice Specs Hoopa-U core. The sheer power of Hoopa-U allows Psychic teams to break most cores with ease. The other variation of balanced Psychic consists of the Mega Gardevoir + Substitute Hoopa-U core. Although Mega Gardevoir isn't as popular as it once was, it is still a dangerous stallbreaker. Substitute Hoopa-U, which is often considered "Steel breaker", is used as a soft check to Bisharp and enables Psychic to beat Steel. Electric typically sticks to a single variation because it has multiple core Pokémon that can't be replaced, because without them, it loses multiple matchups. A prime example is Zapdos being mandatory because it is the only viable form on hazard removal. Psychic, after building the rest of the team, typically has one more slot to fill. The last slot can be filled by many Pokémon, but it is often determined by the offensive core that is used. Psychic-type teams that utilize Mega Medicham typically use Gardevoir or Jirachi, while teams that use Mega Gardevoir typically utilize Latios, Meloetta, or Jirachi. Electric teams do not have the luxury of being able to use multiple different Pokémon with success. Balanced Psychic overshadows balanced Electric as the premier balanced build in Monotype because of the many viable Pokémon Psychic has, the many different approaches Psychic can take when building, and its access to a viable Stealth Rock user.

Why would I use types that are less viable?

The main reason why types that aren't as viable are used is because of good matchups they have against top-tier types. For example, Grass isn't the most viable type, having bad matchups against Flying and Steel, but it has great matchups against Water and Ground. Sometimes types that aren't as viable as others become anti-metagame types. Poison is often considered an anti-metagame type because of the great matchups it has against many top-tier types such as Psychic and Water. However, anti-metagame types can lose their viability as the metagame inevitably changes. All types may not be equal, but all types have positive matchups against certain types. Get out there and try out any type and experiment with what each type offers. You could end up with a fun, ladder-ready team.

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