Gen V Monotype Metagame

[SalTheThief]

I'm actually part of a league that is composed of mono-type teams. I'm the Ground leader this gen (previously Bug. I even was the final E4 member) and while I haven't had as much success as last gen, I'm still in the E4 position(position is determined by a round robin tournament between monotype teams). Encourage Nidoqueen gets up my toxic spikes and then Gliscor stalls out anything that can't dish out over 75% of it's HP in a turn or is slower than it. I usually clean up the match with an Excadrill sweep, as it's only Steels and poison types left after that. Sometimes I struggle with opposing Gliscor, but that's what Mamoswine is for. If you're running monoground and had troubles with bulky waters like I did, try out Gastrodon with Storm Drain. He took the place of Unaware Quagsire, but the Quag's inability to take special water hits kinda annoyed me.

Monotype teams are seriously underrated, as I've been beat by them a couple times myself.

 

[Farewell]

Also, Venushock can work wonders hitting neutrally esp. with Toxic Spikes... Try a Venushock + Evil Eye Gengar, with a Toxic Spiker like Tentacruel.
Gengar can take Ground attacks and block Rapid Spin, while Tentacruel can set up Toxic Spikes, Rapid Spin foes' hazards.

From there, give Gengar good coverage; Drapion takes Psychic, Ghost, and Dark attacks aimed at Gengar, while phazing, Taunting, etc.

Weezing is still pretty decent with Fire Blast, Thunderbolt, Pain Split, W-o-w, as it can surprise many foes like Ferrothorn, Gyarados, etc. that think they can set up on him. Burn handles those Immune to TS, and boosts Evil Eye

 

[mudkipmaster]

My friends and I have a league, and I am mono-water, and am the final E4 member! :D
I run a team like this:

Swampert (Stealth Rock)
Vaporeon (wish support)
Gyarados (Dragon Dance)
Starmie
Politoed
Kingdra

No drizzle+SS ban, so yeah.

 

[GHU Jockmaster]

As long as I have been using online Pokemon simulators, I have almost exclusively used monotype teams. I have always liked the challenge and the directness of knowing exactly which pokemon and weaknesses you have to deal with. I have actually assembled a team for every type (some obviously more refined than others). I just have a much easier time looking at a list of same type pokemon and using a lead,sp sweeper, sp wall, phys sweeper, phys wall, extra template...though this obviously changes based on the specific team.


Now...personally I have always just used my mono teams on the normal tiers for two reasons:

1. The monotype tiers are typically relatively barren :(

2. I actually have a more reliable experience facing normal teams. On every team I make, no matter how much I refine it, there is always a glaring weakness, be it a certain type or a certain Pokemon. Now normally I have one Pokemon who I will add to the team that will be able to somewhat counter or check that weakness (for example on my mono Ice team, my favorite, Fighting types are a big problem. I have a Frosslass with Psychic who almost perfectly covers it). But when I'm paired up against a team FULL of that weakness, it's almost impossible to counter, which I feel is the inherent weakness of a monotype tier.



Needless to say, my best monotype teams have been:

Ice
SubSeed Obamasnow lead
Frosslass
CB Mamo
Max HP/Sp Def Ice Body Regice (eats Fire for breakfast)
Stallrein
Shell Smash Cloyster


Fighting
Mienshao lead
Bulk Up Conk
Max HP/Sp Def Scraggy w/ Bulk Up
Max Sp Def Virizion
Keldeo
TechniTop who spams priority


Grass
Techniloom
Tangrowth (Def wall)
Cursing Ferro
Max Speed Virizion (Phys Att)
Celebi (Sp wall)
Antagonist Serperior


Needless to say...I love monotype

 

[Galladiator]

I've made my own mono-Normal team, actually. Looks something like this:

Nasty Plot Pory-Z
Aromatherapy Blissey
Sawsbuck
Snorlax
ParaHaxing Togekiss
Staraptor

 

[RaRaRabbit]

Yeah Evil Eye is awesome on Gengar when running a team with T-spikes support. And Venoshock is also amazing.

A poison stall mono team is definitely viable. Poison is mostly a defensive type anyways, in my opinion, resisting Fighting, Bug, Grass, and Poison... Sure, only one of those types is really absolutely common, but its still enough to pull through with. Plus, there are PLENTY of semi-defensive (or decently bulky) poison type pokemon: Nidoqueen, Weezing, Drapion, Garbodor, Amoongus, Tentacruel, and even the awkward Subsplit Gengar... Crobat even fits this description, running max HP, some speed ev's and the rest into Def and SpDef, he can take a hit or 2 and still Roost and U-turn.

Poison has so many choices to work with, and so much coverage, the synergy is actually very surprising.





@above: The ice team, at first thought makes me laugh because of overall frailty. But Honestly, any mono-Ice team works like any basic hail team. Looking that team over actually makes me want to try it out. Just that crippling weakness to common attacking type moves... fire, rock, fighting... terrifying.

 

[mudkipmaster]

Yeah Evil Eye is awesome on Gengar when running a team with T-spikes support. And Venoshock is also amazing.

A poison stall mono team is definitely viable. Poison is mostly a defensive type anyways, in my opinion, resisting Fighting, Bug, Grass, and Poison... Sure, only one of those types is really absolutely common, but its still enough to pull through with. Plus, there are PLENTY of semi-defensive (or decently bulky) poison type pokemon: Nidoqueen, Weezing, Drapion, Garbodor, Amoongus, Tentacruel, and even the awkward Subsplit Gengar... Crobat even fits this description, running max HP, some speed ev's and the rest into Def and SpDef, he can take a hit or 2 and still Roost and U-turn.

Poison has so many choices to work with, and so much coverage, the synergy is actually very surprising.





@above: The ice team, at first thought makes me laugh because of overall frailty. But Honestly, any mono-Ice team works like any basic hail team. Looking that team over actually makes me want to try it out. Just that crippling weakness to common attacking type moves... fire, rock, fighting... terrifying.

Haha, love that Gengar!

 

[Sensei_Bobbilytus]

I play monowater, and even monograss (with the one off-type wildcard).
Trust me, I KNOW you scoff at monograss.

Until you realize it gets Ludicolo, Breloom, Whimsicott, and Ferroseed, all of whome are potent OU competators when utilized correctly. Rain is just as good for a grass-team as sun, when you realize none of your powerful pokes use Chlorophyll. For such a terrible type, it's startlingly effective. You can even throw in Cradily to help Ludicolo completely special-wall anything that thinks it has the type-advantage; the more rocks, the better.
Not the best by far, I can't really say I hope to win every time or cry when I lose, but it cirtanly is fun. I really enjoy the monotype metagame, and think it could easily be it's own playstyle; everyone in my local playgroup has their own team.

 

[mudkipmaster]

Yeah, rain buffs Ferrothorn completely.

 

[Xephyr]

Well, I consider myself basically a master of the mono-type (I've created a mono type team for every single type). I think it's no surprise to know that the most powerful types for the mono-tier are Water, Steel, and Dragon (in that order, probably). The weakest is definitely fire (it stands absolutely no chance against water, dragon, ground, or rock. There's just not enough variety among fire types).

The most important thing to keep in mind in the mono tier is to find things that cover your weaknesses. For instance, poison's main banes are psychic and ground, so it's important to utilize Drapion and Crobat/Gengar/Weezing (I usually use two of the three. Generally Crobat and Gengar).

Water is the best simply because there's so much variety. With Drizzle it's just not fair, and even without drizzle your opponent won't stand much of a chance. Even mono electric teams will have a lot of trouble getting past your Swampert/Gastrodon/Seismitoad/Quagsire (every mono water team uses one of those). The only mono type team that will usually win all the time is grass, but even then, a well played Cloyster will only lose to Mach Punch Breloom.

I could speculate for hours on how fun the mono tier is. Each type is fun to play in its own right (except fire. It's so frustrating. I can hardly ever win.)

 

[Lou Cypher]

I used Mono-Poison in Gen 4, the team I used was:

Gengar
Tentacruel
Crobat
Weezing
Venusaur
Drapion

An update of that team would probably include Amoongus. Lil bugger is really handy to have around. Not sure what should go though. Scolipede and Garbodor are useful pokes in their own rights but they're not the best poisons ever.
Far as older poisons go, Nidoking DID get very juicy improvements to its tricks, and with Venomoth...Poison is far more versatile then expected.

 

[mudkipmaster]

I used Mono-Poison in Gen 4, the team I used was:

Gengar
Tentacruel
Crobat
Weezing
Venusaur
Drapion

An update of that team would probably include Amoongus. Lil bugger is really handy to have around. Not sure what should go though. Scolipede and Garbodor are useful pokes in their own rights but they're not the best poisons ever.
Far as older poisons go, Nidoking DID get very juicy improvements to its tricks, and with Venomoth...Poison is far more versatile then expected.

Nice. On my poison mono team, there was a scarfed Amoonguss for scarfed spores. It worked pretty well.

 

[Lou Cypher]

What does Scarfed Amoongus outspeed exactly? Jolly Snorlax?

 

[mudkipmaster]

What exactly does Scarfed Amoongus outspeed exactly? Jolly Snorlax?

Haha, more than you'd expect.

 

[ToastTyrant13]

Mono-Psychic works well because of it's awesome candidates and large movepoll accesibility. I played....

Choice Scarf Medicham Anti-Lead
Bulk Up Gallade
Choice Specs Latias
Magic Mirror Dual Screen Espeon
Life Orb Starmie
Tank Metagross

Attacking prowess and defensive options on both sides of the spectrum, awesome coverage, resistances to most priority, and a wide variety of mons.

 

[mudkipmaster]

Mono-Psychic works well because of it's awesome candidates and large movepoll accesibility. I played....

Choice Scarf Medicham Anti-Lead
Bulk Up Gallade
Choice Specs Latias
Magic Mirror Dual Screen Espeon
Life Orb Starmie
Tank Metagross

Attacking prowess and defensive options on both sides of the spectrum, awesome coverage, resistances to most priority, and a wide variety of mons.

Why have you no Reuniclus? The adorable and ferocious Teddy Bear? It clearly is the most dominant Psychic in the current metagame.

 

[ToastTyrant13]

Why have you no Reuniclus? The adorable and ferocious Teddy Bear? It clearly is the most dominant Psychic in the current metagame.

I used to use it, but Latias was more fun. :p

 

[Shinzo]

Bump cuz i looove this tier !

In fact, i just said fu** it, i'm gonna make a full dark team ( wich includes my al-time favourite pokémons ), managed to defeat some people in BW OU.

And then, i saw it : MONO-TYPE tier ! It was like a gift to me for having the guts to play a full dark team.

I think this tier needs some analysis article, and a good insight from top players regarding things that should be banned to make the tier more balanced.

I think mainly of banning things like mach-punch, since it's auto-loose for dark teams. And ban weather for a start.

 

[Tetrinity]

I really doubt Mach Punch would be banned because it's supposedly an auto-loss for mono-Dark. Run a Spiritomb or Sableye for a Fighting immunity, or perhaps something like Honchkrow or Mandibuzz which are hit neutrally. Mono teams should have a way around each of their weaknesses, especially if one of those weaknesses is extremely common and has multiple priority moves available to it ;)

Anyway, I might give this a shot, thinking of giving mono-Electric a try just because. The complete lack of hazard setters or Rapid Spinners is a little offputting, but hey...

 

[Shinzo]

Everyone suggesting sableye and spiritomb like they can sweep a team by themselves.

Really, even having both on the same team won't solve a damn thing. :/

 

[Tetrinity]

I never suggested either of them would sweep a Fighting-type team. But if you want something to deal with Mach Punch, them's your lot. Prankster WoW from Sableye helps the rest of your team to take the great majority of Fighting attacks too.

Just... don't complain about a move being broken when you're not even using the methods available to you for dealing with it. A monotype team needs to deal with its weaknesses, and Spiritomb / Sableye are among the best ways of dealing with yours.

 

[Shinzo]

i played a lotta matches yesterday, and prankster wow sableye was indeed on my team.

The thing is, even with wow, my team still gets screwed by priority. Maybe it's 'cause i'm using my favourite pokemons and they are pretty frail ( weavile, houndoum, sharpedo ... ).


Maybe i'll test spiritomb + sableye both on the same team. Or some pokes that can take more hits like scrafty or ttar.

 

[THATSAplusONE]

So I just hit #1 on the ladder(Lockster) All I have to say is Dragons are too busted

 

[Shinzo]

Mind sharing your teams guys ?

 

[Master of the Six Kings]

I'm around 7th on the ladder, really love Monosteel. So many natural resistances and amazing offensive pokes. It's hard to only pick 6 though, my current team is: Coablion, Ferrothorn, Jirahchi, Skarmory, Heatran and Scizor. Really want to include Magnezone and Empoleon though, and things like Luc, Forty and Meta. i like this metagame though.