The Monotype Challenge: Stell
After successfully building my first montype team I'm here with my second challenge. This time I'm aiming in a stell team. This type is somewhat new, debuting in the second generation, and their defensive traits are brilliant: owning amazing 11 resistance, including the desired Dragon resistance, and a immunity; unfortunately their only 3 weakness are the most common types in the metagame: Fire, Ground and Fighting. And from their debut till now the only thing this type did was improving, and I'll show it now.
Team Building Process
By far one of the best Stell type pokemon, with nice defensive status and access to entry hazards. It would be hard to build a steel team without it.
Steel type lacks of special attackers, and Magnezone is one of these few ones. Combined with its trapping ability it can become a huge threat.
As said, special attackers are rare in this type. Fortunatelly Heatran is one of those few. Also, his immunity to fire is really needed here.
I was sticking with Skarmory as the physical wall of the team. But I decided to give Steelix a shot since it has better offensive stats, even lacking a reliable recovery method. Also, Steelix the only Steel with eletric immunity, something handy.
Scizor is proof that if something works, everyone try it. Immense physical power paired with a priority move makes it really a monster.
Since this team lacks speed, Lucario is almost an obvius choice. Access to the the best priority move also helps to kill some threats.
By keeping Ferrothorn here I got a big problem: a huge weakness to fire. If Heatran was taken down, any pokemon armed with a fire move could sinply sweep through my whole team. This way, the metalic plant had to go so the penguin emperor Empoleon could fit the team.
Without Ferrothorn I wanted someone to lay Spikes. And since Ferro had to go because of its 4x weakness to fire only Skarmory was possible.
The Team Analysis
Empoleon (F) @ Leftovers Trait: Torrent
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SAtk / 252 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Stealth Rock
- Rain Dance
At fisrt glance it seems to be a standard special defensive Empoleon. And actually it is, but packed with Rain Dance instead of a status move. And I'm doing this so the team can get less vulnerable to fire, even after Heatran being defeated, at the same time I can disrupt the weather, since Sunny Day can wrecks my whole team and a Sandstorm can make a Landorus sweep through my whole team. Also, Scald appreciates the bonus it can get with the rain. Ice Beam is an option to hit dragons, a problem here, more because of their versatility. Lastly there is Stealth Rock, mainly because Skarmory couldn't pack both SR and Spikes in the same set.
Magnezone @ Choice Specs
Trait: Magnet Pull
EVs: 148 HP / 252 SAtk / 108 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]
If this Magnezone had a special priority move in its movepool it would be just like Scizor. At least it has Volt Switch, giving me a small VoltTurn, something good in a team that Stealth Rock and Toxic Spikes don't hurt a lot. With Magnet Pull it still is my main answer against the common steel types, so I need HP Fire. Thunderbolt and Flash Cannon are the main moves of the set, though, because of the ridiculous high SAtk this guy reaches with Specs. With this set Magnezone is able to 2HKO almost everything that don't resist these moves, except for Chansey and Blissey, but including Ferrothorn under the rain.
Heatran (M) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Dragon Pulse
- Hidden Power [Grass]
Even Heatran being vital in this team, I'm not sure if this is the best set. I wanted a Heatran that could hit hard because, except for it and Magnezone, the only other viable steel special attacker is Jirachi, and in my opinion the physical sets of the wishing star are the way to go. So, as most of the mono teams around, Heatran's moves are mainly for type coverage, trying to counter most of this team's threats: waters and grounds are hit by HP Grass, Earth Power is to get rid of opposing fire pokemon, Dragon Pulse being the answer to dragons and Fire Blast is here to enjoy of a Flash Fire boost.
Skarmory (F) @ Rocky Helmet Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Whirlwind
- Spikes
- Roost
- Brave Bird
I had to give in and run the steel bird here. His immunity to Earthquake is the main reason for this, but being able to set up Spikes ended necessary here. I like Rocky Helmet here because Skarmory has a nice recovery move to compensate the lack of Leftovers in Roost. Otherwise, everything here is pretty standard for a physical defensive Skarmory.
Scizor (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Def
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- Pursuit
- U-turn
- Superpower/Brick Break
Classic Banded Scizor. Hit as hard as possible is the goal of this bug, and this is a job it can do quite well. U-Turn deserves a mention here because of Magneone's Volt Switch, giving me a small VoltTurn engine. Superpower isn't my favorite move, but the coverage it gives is amazing, being needed here. Bullet Punch helps a lot the lack of speed of the team, making possible to kill fast sweepers.
Lucario (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Inner Focus
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- ExtremeSpeed
- Earthquake/Crunch
Lucario is here to cover the slowness present in this team. Even Jirachi and Cobalion bein faster than the aura pokemon, thei can't hit as hard as Lucario without some setup. With Life Orb and 350 Atk Extremespeed can revenge kill most pokemon, and after a single Swords Dance it can sweep with it. Earthquake is for coverage and accuracy, but Crunch hit hard anything Close Combat can't, so I'm not sure which one is the ideal move. Even not having astonishing Spd, it has enough to outrun any threat to the team and kill it with Combat.
Former Members
Ferrothorn (F) @ Rocky Helmet Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Spikes
- Leech Seed
- Power Whip
- Thunder Wave
Water is a big threat to the team due to the lack of giving enough damage to get rid of them. Ferrothorn is a natural answer to them since it has good defensive stats at the same time it has a nice Atk. Since I like to run Rocky Helmet here to drain even more damage feom the opponent it needed some recovery move found in Leech Seed. And as most of you know, Ferrothorn forces a lot of switchs, giving me free turns to spam Spikes and paralysis in the opposing team. I had to run Power Whip here because it is my main response to waters and grounds.
Maybe it is me, but Ferrothorn isn't as useful as it should be. So, ended being swapped.
Steelix (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Curse
- Earthquake
- Gyro Ball
- Dragon Tail
The best physical wall, by far, is Skarmory. But I wanted to test something different here, and the second option would be Cobalion, but I prefer to stay with Lucario as the Fight/Stell. this way, this role ended falling in Steelix. Even without any Def investment it reaches astonishing 436 Def, even higher than standard defensive Skarmory. Curse make this iron snake even harder to deal with physical moves, at the same time it makes Gyro Ball even deadlier. Earthquake is nice in almost any pokemon with STAB, and here it's no different. Dragon Tail is good to phaze, since, thanks to Curse, Steelix isn't used to hit first.
This guy wasn't totally bad, having overall better defensive status than Skarmory. Using it showed me the main reason Skarmory is preferred here: the flying type. Keeping the weakness to both fight and ground wasn't helping me, even with the extra immunity to eletric moves.
Both Sun and Rain can give this team hard times because most of their moves do at least neutral damage. Without Steelix my team got vulnerable to electric moves again, and it isn't something I appreciate. And the last major issue here is the weakness to status problems, specially burn, since steels lacks a dedicated Cleric, being Jirachi the closest to one, and without Heal Bell.
After successfully building my first montype team I'm here with my second challenge. This time I'm aiming in a stell team. This type is somewhat new, debuting in the second generation, and their defensive traits are brilliant: owning amazing 11 resistance, including the desired Dragon resistance, and a immunity; unfortunately their only 3 weakness are the most common types in the metagame: Fire, Ground and Fighting. And from their debut till now the only thing this type did was improving, and I'll show it now.
Team Building Process
By far one of the best Stell type pokemon, with nice defensive status and access to entry hazards. It would be hard to build a steel team without it.
Steel type lacks of special attackers, and Magnezone is one of these few ones. Combined with its trapping ability it can become a huge threat.
As said, special attackers are rare in this type. Fortunatelly Heatran is one of those few. Also, his immunity to fire is really needed here.
I was sticking with Skarmory as the physical wall of the team. But I decided to give Steelix a shot since it has better offensive stats, even lacking a reliable recovery method. Also, Steelix the only Steel with eletric immunity, something handy.
Scizor is proof that if something works, everyone try it. Immense physical power paired with a priority move makes it really a monster.
Since this team lacks speed, Lucario is almost an obvius choice. Access to the the best priority move also helps to kill some threats.
By keeping Ferrothorn here I got a big problem: a huge weakness to fire. If Heatran was taken down, any pokemon armed with a fire move could sinply sweep through my whole team. This way, the metalic plant had to go so the penguin emperor Empoleon could fit the team.
Without Ferrothorn I wanted someone to lay Spikes. And since Ferro had to go because of its 4x weakness to fire only Skarmory was possible.
The Team Analysis
Empoleon (F) @ Leftovers Trait: Torrent
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SAtk / 252 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Stealth Rock
- Rain Dance
At fisrt glance it seems to be a standard special defensive Empoleon. And actually it is, but packed with Rain Dance instead of a status move. And I'm doing this so the team can get less vulnerable to fire, even after Heatran being defeated, at the same time I can disrupt the weather, since Sunny Day can wrecks my whole team and a Sandstorm can make a Landorus sweep through my whole team. Also, Scald appreciates the bonus it can get with the rain. Ice Beam is an option to hit dragons, a problem here, more because of their versatility. Lastly there is Stealth Rock, mainly because Skarmory couldn't pack both SR and Spikes in the same set.
Magnezone @ Choice Specs
Trait: Magnet Pull
EVs: 148 HP / 252 SAtk / 108 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]
If this Magnezone had a special priority move in its movepool it would be just like Scizor. At least it has Volt Switch, giving me a small VoltTurn, something good in a team that Stealth Rock and Toxic Spikes don't hurt a lot. With Magnet Pull it still is my main answer against the common steel types, so I need HP Fire. Thunderbolt and Flash Cannon are the main moves of the set, though, because of the ridiculous high SAtk this guy reaches with Specs. With this set Magnezone is able to 2HKO almost everything that don't resist these moves, except for Chansey and Blissey, but including Ferrothorn under the rain.
Heatran (M) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Dragon Pulse
- Hidden Power [Grass]
Even Heatran being vital in this team, I'm not sure if this is the best set. I wanted a Heatran that could hit hard because, except for it and Magnezone, the only other viable steel special attacker is Jirachi, and in my opinion the physical sets of the wishing star are the way to go. So, as most of the mono teams around, Heatran's moves are mainly for type coverage, trying to counter most of this team's threats: waters and grounds are hit by HP Grass, Earth Power is to get rid of opposing fire pokemon, Dragon Pulse being the answer to dragons and Fire Blast is here to enjoy of a Flash Fire boost.
Skarmory (F) @ Rocky Helmet Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Whirlwind
- Spikes
- Roost
- Brave Bird
I had to give in and run the steel bird here. His immunity to Earthquake is the main reason for this, but being able to set up Spikes ended necessary here. I like Rocky Helmet here because Skarmory has a nice recovery move to compensate the lack of Leftovers in Roost. Otherwise, everything here is pretty standard for a physical defensive Skarmory.
Scizor (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Def
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- Pursuit
- U-turn
- Superpower/Brick Break
Classic Banded Scizor. Hit as hard as possible is the goal of this bug, and this is a job it can do quite well. U-Turn deserves a mention here because of Magneone's Volt Switch, giving me a small VoltTurn engine. Superpower isn't my favorite move, but the coverage it gives is amazing, being needed here. Bullet Punch helps a lot the lack of speed of the team, making possible to kill fast sweepers.
Lucario (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Inner Focus
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- ExtremeSpeed
- Earthquake/Crunch
Lucario is here to cover the slowness present in this team. Even Jirachi and Cobalion bein faster than the aura pokemon, thei can't hit as hard as Lucario without some setup. With Life Orb and 350 Atk Extremespeed can revenge kill most pokemon, and after a single Swords Dance it can sweep with it. Earthquake is for coverage and accuracy, but Crunch hit hard anything Close Combat can't, so I'm not sure which one is the ideal move. Even not having astonishing Spd, it has enough to outrun any threat to the team and kill it with Combat.
Former Members
Ferrothorn (F) @ Rocky Helmet Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Spikes
- Leech Seed
- Power Whip
- Thunder Wave
Water is a big threat to the team due to the lack of giving enough damage to get rid of them. Ferrothorn is a natural answer to them since it has good defensive stats at the same time it has a nice Atk. Since I like to run Rocky Helmet here to drain even more damage feom the opponent it needed some recovery move found in Leech Seed. And as most of you know, Ferrothorn forces a lot of switchs, giving me free turns to spam Spikes and paralysis in the opposing team. I had to run Power Whip here because it is my main response to waters and grounds.
Maybe it is me, but Ferrothorn isn't as useful as it should be. So, ended being swapped.
Steelix (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Curse
- Earthquake
- Gyro Ball
- Dragon Tail
The best physical wall, by far, is Skarmory. But I wanted to test something different here, and the second option would be Cobalion, but I prefer to stay with Lucario as the Fight/Stell. this way, this role ended falling in Steelix. Even without any Def investment it reaches astonishing 436 Def, even higher than standard defensive Skarmory. Curse make this iron snake even harder to deal with physical moves, at the same time it makes Gyro Ball even deadlier. Earthquake is nice in almost any pokemon with STAB, and here it's no different. Dragon Tail is good to phaze, since, thanks to Curse, Steelix isn't used to hit first.
This guy wasn't totally bad, having overall better defensive status than Skarmory. Using it showed me the main reason Skarmory is preferred here: the flying type. Keeping the weakness to both fight and ground wasn't helping me, even with the extra immunity to eletric moves.
Both Sun and Rain can give this team hard times because most of their moves do at least neutral damage. Without Steelix my team got vulnerable to electric moves again, and it isn't something I appreciate. And the last major issue here is the weakness to status problems, specially burn, since steels lacks a dedicated Cleric, being Jirachi the closest to one, and without Heal Bell.