A Monotype Take on the OU Metagame - Analyses Repost - (contributions are welcomed)

Cacturne with Water Absorb will easily deal with rain boosted water attacks so I think it should be removed from the cons list.
 
For mono-fighting, what about Keldeo? Seems the pony is forgotten!
Keldeo is the most powerful special fighting type
Also, why exactly is Dusknoir on the list of notable mon? Dusknoir is outclassed by Dusclops and any other ghost type, it shouldn't be on the list.
 
For mono-fighting, what about Keldeo? Seems the pony is forgotten!
Keldeo is the most powerful special fighting type
Also, why exactly is Dusknoir on the list of notable mon? Dusknoir is outclassed by Dusclops and any other ghost type, it shouldn't be on the list.

Its because Dusknoir actually has some sort of offensive presence, while Dusclops has to resort to Seismic Toss or Night Shade.
 
I strongly recommend that Weavile be added to the 'Notable Members' list for the Ice type. If it can force a switch and Swords Dance, it can wreak havoc with Ice Punch/Ice Shard, Low Kick/Brick Break and Night Slash. Only a wallbreaker and it dies instantly to Fighting attacks, but it forms a Dark/Ghost core with Froslass that leaves you with Pokemon that can take neutral hits from every type bar Fire, Rock and Steel, 2 of which are dealt with by Cloyster and/or 'Stallrein'. Seriously, why isn't it on that list already?
 
For Dragons, Druddigon can set up Stealth Rocks and Glare support making it a notable and underused member for Mono-Dragon thanks to its niche as the only viable stealth rocker. Also Kyurem-B should be added to the notable member list, it is debatably the best pokemon in OU right now.
 

Snou

the grand master of all the things bad!
is a Tutor Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Past SCL Champion
Another nice ice Pokemon for Monoice is Jynx, a very strong help for the rain.
With my semimonoice i've done >1600 ladder to Beta Server(Pokemon Online).

SashSRSwine - ScarfDestinyBondFroslass - Abomasnow - HpCryogonal(eccept Delibird the unic spinner) - SubPlotJynx - CleffaLv1

Well, one of the problem is Scarfrachi, Scizor, Terrakion and TTar. For Scarfrachi i send Scarflass first to dbond it. For Scizor i usually use endeavor Swine or Cleffa. Terrakion can be destroyed by Cleffa, Scarflass, Sashsine and the two shards of Swine and Abomasnow. Jynx is a wonderful mode to kill all. Setup random and at +4 she ohko Scizor, 2 ohko ttar, kill terrakion... anyway this monoice is very nice and it work well =)
 

Okuu

Blame [me] for Global Warming!
is a Battle Simulator Admin Alumnus
Ah, and to think I just now found this thread, after posting my 200-battle run with Mono-Ice in OU-Current.

I managed to win just about 50% of my battles with Suicide Lead Froslass, Tanky Abomasnow, Scarf'd Cloyster, E.Belt Kyu-B, Stallrein, and Tanky Regice. All in all, I'd have to give the MVP to Regice, for the sheer amount of damage that thing can absorb and dish out. Not to mention Thunder Wave.


Regice @ Leftovers
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 252 SAtk / 248 HP / 8 SDef
Modest Nature
- Blizzard
- Thunderbolt
- Thunder Wave
- Hidden Power [Fire]

I originally intended for it to be my team's way of coping with Ninetales; I'd switch into a Flamethrower, eat another Flamethrower, and TWave it. Then, one of my other teammates could kill it off whenever the opportunity came about. However, over time, I found that it was ridiculously effective at walling any SpAtk thrown at it (save for Psyshock-esque moves), and could deal quite a respectable amount of damage. So, I took some points out of SpDef, put them in SpAtk, and watched Regice proceed to murder just about any hapless SpAtk user sent in against it, or paralyze any Physical threat that I could correctly predict. It basically plays the role of an offensive Blissey, except it's more well-rounded.
 
Fighting is the best mono-type by far. Dragon is also completely viable right now as well.

I don't have the time to write out an entire analysis but here are 10 general tips from my successful mono-fighting team that can help you craft your own team:

1) Pick a good type (obviously). Offensive typing is better. You cannot cover your weaknesses because of common typing so focus on winning offensively.

2) Change your tactics - don't try to sweep or win pretty. Because you are playing mono-type, you're essentially battling the other teams 1-3 resisting typed mons. If you pick a potent offensive type like dragon or fighting, the rest of the match will take care of itself once those pokemon are removed. The best part of mono-typing is this luring aspect. 6 Dragons? If it takes your other 5 pokemon to remove Skarmory and Heatran you may very well still win the match!

3) Don't counter; Sacrifice - You have to get used to this. It is a different way of analyzing a match. Sacrificing is the easiest way to get in a free switch and put yourself in a better position to counterattack the opposition. Team preview helps this alot. If your opponent has Gliscor, Latias, and Toxicroak and you have Breloom on your team he may have to die to help you win because he is useless in that situation.

4) Ditch the choice items! - This is something a lot of people just CANNOT wrap their heads around. I'll make an exception to this guideline for Dragon types, since spamming Choice Band Outrage is a little different than what any of the other types can do. Choice items will cause you to switch way too much, which violates guideline #3. This will force you to lose much more than you should... I know Choice Scarf is appealing for revenge kills, but if you ditch the choice items it is much much harder for the opponent to set up in the first place!!!

5) Priority, Priority, Priority - Resist the urge to counter other sweepers with the Choice Scarf. Yes, it can help you get past some threats, but you will get into a revenge-sacrifice cycle and with mono-typing you will always lose these because of lack of resists.

6) Accept defeat - Do your best! It is monotype! However, there are some team combinations that are just not possible for your team to defeat! Rather than thinking you did something wrong, recognize the limitations of your team.

7) Focus on team roles - Just because Breloom is better with Technician doesn't mean it may be better on a mono-fighting type team. This is the best example I can give. Poison Heal allows a status absorber! Think about these things. You may need to call on Pokemon to do things regardless of what else they can do better!

8) Ignore the Tiers - Just because Pokemon X is OU, doesn't mean a UU team won't fit his slot on a mono-type team better. Movepool, abilities, and unique stat distributions should be strongly considered!

9) Ignore Your Opponent and Believe in Your Team- Many people will try to psyche you out or mock you for using monotype. Ignore them and continue to execute your match always believing you have a chance to win. Like I said, when you fight a team your matches will be different. You may struggle to beat the 2 resists, but the last 2 pokemon will be weak to your whole type!! Be prepared for the late game snowball!

10) Use a wildcard - This isn't for how to win in mono-type, but is definitely something to consider for future team building. If you have a successful mono-type team structure, why craft from there? Sometimes a mono-type core can help build a "real" team using 3-4 same typed pokemon that evolved from your team. Keep this in mind, but don't punk out ;)


Happy Monotyping!

Source:

My mono fighting team right now holds an ~80% win rate in OU current and a ~1700-1750 rating. It can defeat competitive ladderers with smart play and favorable team matches but is obviously competitive as a whole. It reached the top 50 in Gen IV's iteration of it and at its peak it reached the top 20 in BW1 (that credit all goes to Speed Boost Blaziken pre-ban).

I may edit and post it here at a later date.
As someone who regularly runs monotypes on the ladder (mostly bug and flying), I agree with most of what is said in this post. I have a few more points to add:

Ignore/build upon standard sets - Another thing many people have trouble wrapping their heads around, the standard builds for many pokemon are bad/not as good on a monotype team. For example, a grass type might carry HP Fire/Ice on the standard set, but on a grass mono HP Rock might be a better idea to kill flying/bug/fire types. If you are not using a choice item (which is recommended for anyone playing a type which can't mindlessly spam the same attack against an entire team), you might have to use a different EV spread (usually bulkier) than you normally would when using the same pokemon on a regular team. For some types, you shouldn't really use the same stab that is common to the entire team on every single member of it, due to poor coverage and requiring a coverage move to beat some of your counters.

Rapid Spin - While useful to have on a team, especially with a type weak to rock, you can't always count on being able to use it. Use of Rapid Spin will KILL your momentum, which hurts mono teams far more than regular teams, usually equating to your opponent having a free turn to set up or start spamming the same attack your entire team is weak to. If you have the option to prevent your opponent from laying hazards, such as by killing/putting to sleep their hazard user, use of magic coat/bounce/taunt, etc. this is always preferred to assuming you'll be able to spin.

And now for a key member of my bug mono, to illustrate my first point:



Volcarona @ Leftovers
Trait: Flame Body
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SDef / 8 Spe
Calm Nature
- Quiver Dance
- Fiery Dance
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Ground]

With the standard set on Volcarona, Heatran (especially if on a sun team) usually equates to auto-death for an entire bug team. It is still very difficult to take on a sun team, with fire monos being more difficult than a standard OU sun team, but now you have a chance. This Volcarona is capable of surviving almost any relevant special attack in the game, most importantly anything Heatran will commonly carry. With Quiver Dance, it is able to boost its special defense to sky-high levels, along with being able to dish out loads of damage. Firey Dance is the preferred stab here - on a bug mono you'll have other things to use Bug Buzz, and being able to take out hazard users is important. Giga Drain is important for taking on water/ground/rock types (so you won't always be forced out against them), and for popping balloons commonly found on Heatran and other fire types. HP Ground will kill fire types. Heatran is the main target, though ground does give good offensive coverage otherwise.

The EV spread maximizes special bulk, with a few important considerations. An odd value for HP is preferred because it is so weak to rock. Because damage for stealth rock is rounded down, it will be at 51% instead of 50% after one rock. Assuming no damage taken or healed, this allows it to live with 1HP on its next switch in. I've seen this matter for general survivability of the team much more often than having one additional HP, such as vs. whirlwind/roar spammers. The extra 8 points placed in speed will make it win speed ties vs. other uninvested base 100 speed, which again, I've seen matter much more often than an additional 2 points elsewhere. As long as you remember you are running the bulky set, and therefore usually need an additional quiver dance to outspeed what you normally would have on the standard set, this set is amazing.

Sun team rage quit: http://pokemonshowdown.com/replay/ou-49735849

A good example of the extreme bulk of this thing: http://pokemonshowdown.com/replay/ou-50148467

Some relevant damage calcs:

Common special fire attacks vs. Bulky Volc -

252 SpA Heatran Fire Blast vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Volcarona in sun: 205-243 (54.95 - 65.14%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 SpA Ninetales Flamethrower vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Volcarona in sun: 118-141 (31.63 - 37.8%) -- 0.24% chance to 3HKO

Dead Heatran after 1 QD -

+1 0 SpA Volcarona Hidden Power Ground vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Heatran: 372-440 (115.17 - 136.22%) -- guaranteed OHKO
 
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MikeDawg

Banned deucer.
I've seen monowater high up on the ladder while laddering for reqs. It's pretty solid. Toad/tenta/seismi/keldeo/etc can do some serious work
 
Dragon spamming doesn't fair to well when you go up against hail based teams which is one it's greater flaws. Never thought of running a dark mono team but seems interesting. Water could go fairly well with access to such threats as Keldeo. Mono fire teams are just plain awful, requiring a spinner and only having Torkoal which is bad even in NU, also suffers from the omnipresent rain.
 
How aren't Salamence and Staraptor in the flying analysis?

Also, here are some notable ground pokes:

Donphan
Dugtrio
Flygon
Gastrodon
Gliscor
Golurk
Hippowdon
Krookodile
Landorus
Mamoswine
Nidoking
Nidoqueen
Quagsire
Swampert
I agree that it is silly to not include Salamence and Staraptor in the flying analysis when they're indisputably some of the better flying types around. Nidoking lacks the ability to preform that well in OU due to a weakness to ground and lacklustre speed in a metagame that revolves almost entirely around it. Quagsire really isn't that good anymore full stop. In OU it's outclassed almost entirely by Skarmory and Gastrodon, with it's only niche being able to take hits from set up sweepers and either retaliate with Scald, also the ability to be murdered by two of the most common pokemon in the tier (namely Keldeo and Breloom) is a pretty massive disadvantage.
With that said I agree with everything else.
 

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