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

[zyrefredric]

This is a repost of this thread.

There is an existing Monotype Metagame discussion thread here, but the OP has never been edited since last year, and this it a bit different, so I guess this warrants a thread of its own.

It goes without saying that when you play the Monotype metagame, your team must consist of six Pokemon all having a common type (eg. all Poison or part-Poison types). Some variations allow a wildcard, where the sixth Pokemon may have a different typing, but that will not be covered by this thread (yet). This restriction imposed on available Pokemon when teambuilding may be unappealing to some, but others find the challenge it presents very enticing.

Take note that this thread is to focus on the use of monotype teams in the regular metagame, NOT the Monotype metagame. One reason is that the Monotype sub-meta has too small a playerbase. Also, in the Monotype meta, bad match-ups usually mean instant loss, which is one of the major qualms against it.

For those who would want to discuss rather than contribute, here are some guide questions to start it off:

• What are the challenges a monotype team faces when taking on the regular metagame?
• Which Pokemon excel more in a monotype team?
• Which monotype fairs best in the regular OU metagame?

Will be finishing this once I get more time, but if you'd like to contribute (specially for those who do have the experience), you may do so and I'd gladly add it to this OP. You may format your contribution as follows:

TYPE: specify which type you're talking about

PROS: What are the advantages of using this type for a monotype team. Is it easy to use?

CONS: What are the disadvantages of using this type for a monotype team. What makes it hard to use?

NOTABLE MEMBERS: Give a Pokemon that serves as an asset for this monotype. It would be best if you could explain why this Pokemon is notable when building a monotype team.

TYPE SYNERGY: No need to have this in your submission, as this part I tried to complete myself. Basically, listed here are the Pokemon of the type that are immune or at least neutral to the weaknesses of the types. Of course I may have made mistakes, so feel free to point out anything in this part. This may be helpful, because when making a monotype team, you have to be careful not to make the team overly weak to a specific type.

Here's what we have so far:

[zyrefredric]

BUG
PROS:

• Have more than one defensive, supporting Pokemon. (Forretress, Armaldo, Scolipede, Crustle)
• Great offensive, defensive double typings. (Scizor, Volcarona, Galvantula, Yanmega)
• Have variety of usable moves, abilities to exploit. (Sleep Powder, Quiver Dance, Batton Pass, Compoundeyes, Tinted Lens)

CONS:

• Crippling Stealth Rock weakness.
• Hard times when dealing with fire attackers.

NOTABLE MEMBERS:


TYPE SYNERGY:

• Neutral to Fire: Volcarona, Armaldo, Crustle, Shuckle
• Neutral to Flying: Galvantula, Armaldo, Crustle, Shuckle, Scizor, Wormadam-S, Forretress, Genesect, Durant, Escavalier
• Neutral to Rock: Wormadam-G, Scizor, Wormadam-S, Forretress, Genesect, Durant, Escavalier, Heracross

________________________________________________

DARK
PROS:

• some strong/good sweepers ( Weaville, Scrafty, Sharpedo, Zoroark, Houndoum, Honchkrow, etc.)
• good status inducers/annoying pokes in Prankster Sableye and Spiritomb
• access to Sandstorm with Tyranitar
• access to a Dragon, Hydreigon, who is an excellent defensive pivot with his typing and of course offensive powerhouse
• all members being immune to Psychic, which is getting to be a popular type in the metagame

CONS:

• weakness to a common type with a priority move ( mach punch )
• generally frail pokes
• Some fighting types are too hard to shut down for mono-dark. Terrakion+Conkeldurr can wreck even the most well prepared mono-dark teams.
• Mono-dark is hard pressed to find a Pokemon to sponge strong, rain-boosted water type attacks

NOTABLE MEMBERS:


TYPE SYNERGY:

• Immune to Fighting: Sableye, Spiritomb
• Neutral to Fighting: Honchkrow, Mandibuzz
• Neutral to Bug: Scrafty, Houndoom, Honchkrow, Mandibuzz, Sableye, Spiritomb, Drapion, Skuntank, Bisharp

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DRAGON
PROS:

• Dual type Dragons exist for every type with the exception of Grass, Rock, Fighting and Bug. Dragon type moves paired with STABs belonging to other great offensive types (Ground, Ice, Water, Fire, Electric) usually means near perfect coverage
• Extremely hard hitters on both sides of the spectrum, with both a physical 120 BP STAB in Outrage and a 140 BP special stab with Draco Meteor for starters, with many Dragons having great stats in both fields and the ability to learn the most powerful of moves for different types
• Extreme versatility in playing different roles ranging from defensive (physical wall, special wall, toxic wall) , offensive (special, physical, mixed, bulky, scarfed) to support (taunt-phazing, status spreader, healer)
• Can operate in different weathers with ease if not outright stealing it for themselves
• Excellent resistances in addition to being resisted only by Steel which can be overcome by using a variety of coverage moves
• Access to status inducing moves and stat boosting moves in addition to recovery

CONS:

• No Rapid Spin means trouble for the most used physical Dragon types who are part Flying
• No Stealth Rocks (except Garchomp's pre-evos)
• Weakness to ice attacks for all but four Dragons, especially Ice Shard which makes setting up for Dragons in general very hard especially those without priority moves, it also goes without saying Dragons don't like Hail either with the exception of Blizzard spamming Kyurem
• With only one Dragon being able to stand up to Dragon type moves it usually means when it comes to mono-drag vs mono-drag that the first one to set up or outspeed the other wins, in other words Dragons with their ridiculously powered moves are their own worst enemy

NOTABLE MEMBERS:


TYPE SYNERGY:

• Neutral to Dragon: Dialga
• Neutral to Ice: Reshiram, Kyurem, Dialga, Palkia, Kingdra

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ELECTRIC
PROS:

• weaknesses are easily covered
• most Electric-types have access to BoltBeam, which makes handling Ground-types (its sole weakness) easier to handle
• Electric Pokemon will save you in the war! They'll zap your enemies into paralysis!

CONS:

• Absolutely no entry hazards. This means that your opponents are never punished for switching, which gives them an advantage
• Most viable Electric-types are specially oriented, meaning that many Pokemon will simply overlap; making them easy to stop (hint: pink blobs)
• Simply not much variety: very few Electric-types have neat secondary types or abilities that make them special

NOTABLE MEMBERS:

• Zapdos is notable for it's immense offensive potential, as well as solid defensive potential, and most importantly, an immunity to Ground-type moves, a type that ravages most Electric-types. SubRoost with Toxic and Pressure to stall is a great thing to have. Zapdos should be on every mono-Electric team, no exceptions
  
• Jolteon, Manectric, and Raikou are all speedy, powerful Special attackers, each having something special that separates them from the other two. Jolteon has it's insane 130 base speed, Manectric has Lightningrod and access to Flamethrower/Overheat, and Raikou makes for a great Calm Mind sweeper, as well as having access to a nice Fighting-type move in Aura Sphere.
  
• Rotom-W, Rotom-C, and Rotom-H are unique forms of Rotom that have nifty secondary types. Rotom-W's unique Hydro Pump is very useful in handling Ground-types, as is Rotom-C's Leaf Storm. Rotom-H's Overheat is somewhat less noticable, but any team likes having a strong Fire-type move, and if you don't run Heat Wave on Zapdos, it's a good alternative. All 3 formes are capable of spreading burns with Will-o-Wisp, making them effective at neutering physical threats.
  
• Electivire and Luxray are notable for having good physical stats and movepools, something a mono-Electric team craves desperately. Both have Wild Charge as a physical STAB, decent coverage in moves such as Cross Chop, Superpower, Ice Punch, Fire Punch, Earthquake, and Crunch. Either of the pair should be on any mono-Electric team
  
• Magnezone is quite useful, as it's a mono-Electric team's only answer to powerful Dragon-type attacks, as well as being capable of ending mono-Steel teams almost single-handedly. A SubCharge set is it's most viable option
  
• Lanturn's Water-type STAB moves, as well as access to Heal Bell, can prove useful, but on the whole, it's not as good as Rotom-W. Eelektross is rather underwhelming, but immunity to Ground, as well as no weaknesses, could be handy. Galvantula is rather weak compared to many other Electric-types, but a Bug-type STAB and Thunder that is usable outside of Rain are calling cards for it. Finally, Electrode can be used as a suicide lead, to set up Rain and then blow up, allowing for it's teammates to go crazy spamming Thunder

TYPE SYNERGY:

• Immune to Ground: Emolga, Rotom-A, Thundurus, Zapdos, Eelektross
• Neutral to Ground: Galvantula
• Honorable mention: Air Balloon is very useful to get free switches for Pokemon weak to Ground, which is very helpful, considering Ground-type moves are useful overall

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FIGHTING
PROS:

• A lot of power. Many Fighting-type Pokemon just have some of the highest offensive stats in the game, and they can take full advantage of that.
• Type effectiveness. Fighting is tied with Ground as the type that hits the most Pokemon for super-effective damage, and some of those types are fairly common in OU (namely Steel and Rock). The types that Fighting attacks do not work well against are also fairly rare in OU.
• Type compatibility. Fighting attacks work especially well when paired with a type that can strike the things they struggle against for a lot of damage, and many Fighting Pokemon have access to those kinds of attacks. Close Combat on a Pokemon that also knows a move like Crunch, Stone Edge, or Ice Punch (or Hidden Power Ice) can lay a lot of offensive pressure on an opponent.
• Priority. Mach Punch. Also Vacuum Wave. Priority moves are great for picking off opponents. Combine this with a versatile attack type and a Pokemon with a nice level of power, and you have a force to be reckoned with.
• Defense. Fighters don’t have a large number of resistances, but they do resist Rock, Bug, and Dark attacks. These happen to be the types of some of the most dangerous utility moves in the game: Stealth Rock, U-Turn, and Pursuit.

CONS:

• Limited Special options. The vast majority of Fighting Pokemon are more physically-oriented on offense, leaving very few options for Special attacks.
• Entry hazard-less. No Fighting Pokemon are capable of learning Spikes or Toxic Spikes, and only one (if we’re only counting fully-evolved Pokemon) is able to use Stealth Rock. Stealth Rock would go a long way towards helping Fighting Pokemon against.
• Flying Pokemon. These guys, I think, are a bigger problem for Fighting teams than Psychic Pokemon. Several of the most used Psychics don’t often carry Psychic attacks, and guys like Jirachi and Metagross take neutral damage from Fighting moves, or they have fairly low Defense. To be fair, there aren’t many Flyers wielding Flying attacks, either. But the most used ones are all still resilient to Fighting blows, whether just by types, by having really high defense (Skarmory), or by compounding a Fighting resistance with their abilities (Dragonite, Salamence, and Gyarados).
• Fighting Pokemon. Surprising note: some of the most useful or powerful Pokemon to use on mono-Fighting teams are themselves vulnerable to Fighting attacks.

NOTABLE MEMBERS:

• The Mon of Steel himself, this guy is pretty much a staple of Mono-Fighting teams. Why is that? Better question would be “Why wouldn’t he be?” Being a Steel-type, he takes neutral damage from both Flying and Psychic attacks. In addition to that, though, he has access to many boosting moves, most notably Swords Dance and Nasty Plot. Combined with 110 base Attack and 115 Special Attack, this means he could do really well hitting from either side, although his 90 Base Speed is a little slow to run a Mixed set very effectively. He is one of the few Fighters that can hit hard with Special Attacks by running Aura Sphere along with either Dark Pulse or Shadow Ball, all augmented by Nasty Plot. Of course, his physical options boosted by Swords Dance are actually more powerful, with Close Combat combined with Crunch or Ice Punch. Lucario actually does NOT have access to the move Mach Punch, but despite that, he still has three other priority attacks to wield. Vacuum Wave is a very likely option on Special sets, while physical sets get access to Extreme Speed, the strongest priority attack in the game (tied with Sucker Punch but has priority above even that). He may also run Bullet Punch as his third attack instead of Crunch or Ice Punch in order to strike faster foes that might not be hit by Extreme Speed (such as Gengar, who can be troublesome for mono-Fighting teams even with this idea). In short, pretty much every mono-Fighting team I’ve seen has a Lucario on it for reasons.
  
• Infernape is another Pokemon you’d probably see on a lot of Fighting teams. He doesn’t provide much in the way of defense, so offense is what Sun Wukong focuses on. Both Attack and Special Attack are base 104, and his base Speed is 108. Like Lucario, Infernape could be coming from either end of the spectrum, but due to higher speed, Infernape can also attack from both sides. Mixed sets are most likely so that he can keep using the dreaded Close Combat without having to resort to the life-draining Flare Blitz or the somewhat-weak Fire Punch (or so that he can spew Fire Blasts without having to resort to the even less accurate Focus Blast). Infernape also has access to Mach Punch to pick off enemies, as well as having several other attacks for dealing with foes that take Fire or Fighting moves well (Stone Edge, Thunder Punch, Grass Knot, Hidden Power Ice, and U-Turn come to mind). Possibly Infernape’s most important selling point to mono-Fighting teams (other than hitting with Special Attacks) is that Infernape can use Stealth Rock. He is the only Fighting Pokemon capable of using Stealth Rock (other than his pre-evolution Monferno), or any entry hazard. Seeing as Stealth Rock is a huge aid to Fighting-types by knocking Flying Pokemon down a peg, you can see that this might be helpful.
  
• Gallade’s role on a mono-Fighting team is likely to be more for his utility rather than his power. He is incapable of wielding any kind of entry hazards, but this dancing swordsman has other ways to support his side or cripple his opponents. For example, he can set up Light Screen and Reflect. Guys like Lucario and Infernape are very heavy hitters, but they don’t have the highest defense scores among Fighters. Having Gallade set up shields like these can help them survive a bit longer than they probably should. Gallade also has several moves that can inflict status conditions, such as Thunder Wave, Will-O-Wisp, Hypnosis, and Taunt. These kinds of moves can go a decent way towards crippling tough enemies on the opposite end, especially when combined with Gallade’s high Special Defense. Although he does have all these support options, Gallade is also capable of hitting pretty hard, too. Like Lucario and Infernape, he can fight in Close Combat, probably the most reliable-but-strong Fighting attack in the game. He also comes armed with other attacks, like Zen Headbutt (or Psycho Cut), Night Slash, and the Ghost-type priority attack Shadow Sneak. Gallade’s not quite the staple of mono-Fighting teams that Lucario is (or Infernape could be), but he’s definitely a good choice for something a bit more unorthodox. Did I mention that he also takes Psychic moves for neutral damage, as well as resisting Fighting attacks himself?
  
• Going back from someone unusual to something more traditional, Terrakion is a grey-and-dark-brown wrecking ball. He’s not likely to be dealing Special damage with a rather low 71 base Special Attack, but with a physical Attack score of 129 and 108 base Speed, he would scoff at Special attacks anyway. Being a Rock Fighter (a typing exclusive to Terrakion for now), he does have a wide variety of weaknesses like Water, Fighting, and Steel. In return, though, Fighting and Rock attacks work together amazingly. Stone Edge crushes the Flying and Bug Pokemon that laugh at Close Combat, while Close Combat smashes the Steel-types that would just shrug off Stone Edge. Very few Pokemon can resist both of these kinds of moves, and the ones that do (like Claydol, Nidoqueen, and Gallade) aren’t used much in OU. …Honestly, that’s all that really needs to be said about Terrakion. There is more to him, such as different sets or items to equip, but they’re mainly just different ways of saying Terrakion smashes all of the things.
  
• The yellow-hooded lizard is currently considered among the bottom of the barrel in OU, but he may actually find hope within mono-Fighting teams. Mainly, Scrafty is notable because in addition to being a Fighter, he’s also a Dark Pokemon, meaning that he isn’t bothered by Psychic attacks. Admittedly, Psychic moves aren’t exactly the most common attack type (there are several Psychic Pokemon in OU, but the most common ones tend to use other attack types more often), but having something to block one of your type’s weaknesses completely (unlike Gallade, Lucario, Medicham, or Cobalion, who just make them neutral hits) might help you in situations where Psychic powers are used. In the meantime, Scrafty has some cool boosting moves at his disposal: Dragon Dance and Bulk Up. Both of these boost a somewhat-unimpressive base 90 Attack stat along with one of his other stats: speed for Dragon Dance (which lets you use him mainly for offense) or defense for Bulk Up (which makes him a bit sturdier while still being able to hit). Scrafty is one of the tougher Fighters, too, with 115 base Defense, both physical and Special. Dark and Fighting make a really good offensive combination with only Heracross and Toxicroak able to resist it, so gaining bonuses for both Crunch and Hi Jump Kick (or Drain Punch, both of which are good options) is especially nice.
  
• “What? Poliwrath? But this guy’s in RU, and he doesn’t neutralize Psychic or Flying damage. Why would he be ‘notable’?” That’s probably what you’re thinking, right? Well, you’d be surprised. I actually used one of these guys on my mono-Fighting team in 4th-Gen, and he impressed me quite a bit. Being a Water-type, obviously, he’s going to have access to Water and Ice attacks. Both of these are rather effective against some of the most powerful Pokemon in OU, including some Pokemon that might give Fighting teams problems (such as Dragonite, Latios, or Gliscor). Being a Water-type Fighter, Poliwrath works well for taking attacks aimed at other Fighters with secondary types. Is some Fire-type trying to melt Lucario? Poliwrath. Are they trying to freeze Breloom? Poliwrath. Is that a Hydro Pump aimed at your Terrakion? Poliwrath will HEAL from that last one with its Water Absorb ability. AND he actually has the bulk to take hits pretty dang well. The downside to Poliwrath is that he doesn’t really have the raw power to deliver hits, nor does he come with the strongest attacks, so Poliwrath is the kind of Fighter you would probably prefer to play defensively. I could go on, but this will do a better job than I could trying to explain why Poliwrath is surprisingly AWESOME.

TYPE SYNERGY:

• Immune to Psychic: Scrafty
• Neutral to Psychic: Gallade, Medicham
• Neutral to Flying: Cobalion, Lucario

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FIRE
PROS:

• Mono-Fire is the only type that can abuse Drought. A50% boost to all fire moves, plus removing their Water Weakness is amazing.
• Fire is an offensive monster of a STAB to have, burning most of the metagame including two of the most common types in the game - Ferrothorn and Scizor.
• Fire can deal with all steel-type in the game (except heatran), making it one of the few mono-types that can do this.
• Fire-types also have a wide range of pokemon to use, from the offensive wall-breaking Infernape to the defensive behemoth that is Specially Defensive Heatran.
• This team would be immune to burn, which is always nice.

CONS:

• No Spikes or Toxic Spikes, and only a few fire-type pokemon get Stealth Rock.
• Only rapid spinner is Torkoal, a SR-weak pokemon who is slow as all fuck and can barely touch anything. This wouldn't be a problem, except that most of the pokemon in a monofire-team is weak to SR, including Ninetails.
• Speaking of Ninetails, what a bag of shit of a pokemon. The only reason he finds a spot on any team is for the eternal sun, but Ninetails is still a god awful pokemon, this is extremely notable when you take away the sun with other weather, and while we can deal with Sand OK with Infernape and Hail very well (lolhail), Rain has the capability to shit on the entire team.

NOTABLE MEMBERS:


TYPE SYNERGY:

• Immune to Ground: Rotom-H, Charizard, ho-oh, Moltres
• Neutral to Ground: Volcarona
• Neutral to Rock: Blaziken, Infernape, Emboar, Camerupt, Heatran
• Neutral to Water: Reshiram

[zyrefredric]

FLYING
PROS:

• availability of stalling beasts with access to lots of resistance/immunity synergy (Zapdos, Gliscor, Skarmory, Bulky Gyarados... )
• able to lay both spikes and stealth rock in your movesets without having to cripple your team with specific pokes to spread hazards below your foes (again, Skarmory and Gliscor mainly, but they are more than enough )
• having u-turn, phazing moves and/or roost at your disposal in almost, if not all, flying pokemons is a huge boost for your stalling capabilities
• Monoflying teams fare quite well versus a lot of stall teams, because they tend to rely on toxic and toxic spikes , which are nothing more than wasted moveslots in your opponent's pokemon :D
• being 100% immune to EQ is terrific!
• Dragons, specially Dragonite!

CONS:

• have problems with weather teams, specially damaging weather, not because of the 6% dmg per turn that is annoying but not troublesome (roost, roost everywhere!), but because of the attacks they tend to run in those teams
• Crippling ice weakness
• Starmie
• Stealth Rock
• Having no spinner at all (lol Delibird) makes you rely on Magic Bounce Mind Games™, courtesy of Xatu Incorporation. Once they are up, your switches will be a lot less frequent, as your opponent will soon realise and take advantadge of

NOTABLE MEMBERS:



TYPE SYNERGY:

• Immune to Electric: Zapdos, Gliscor, Landorus
• Neutral to Electric: Altaria, Dragonite, Salamence, Rayquaza, Emolga, Zapdos, Thundurus, Rotom-S, Jumpluff, Shaymin-S, Tropius
• Neutral to Rock: Gliscor, Landorus, Skarmory
• Neutral to Ice: Charizard, Ho-oh, Moltres, Articuno, Delibird, Skarmory, Gyarados, Pelipper, Mantine, Swanna

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GHOST
PROS:

• immunity to Normal and Fighting moves
• Many have extra immunity other than the main normal and fighting. Ground (gengar), Electric (golurk), Water (water absorb jellicent), Psychic (spiritomb and sableye), fire (flash fire chandy).
• Have some great Sp. Atk pokemon like Gengar and Chandelure (130 and 145 Sp Atk). Chandelure even has the highest Sp Atk stat out of every non uber Pokemon.
• Also have a great supporter in the form of Prankster Sableye
• most have ways to cripple opponent WoW comes to mind
• when allowed Shadow Tag Chandelure is a highly effective revenger

CONS:

• No walls. The only thingS that come close are Jellicent and Spiritomb.
• No Stealth Rocks. A ghost mono type could get a great advantage of immunity to rapid spin but not a single ghost pokemon learns the move Stealth Rock.
• No physical attackers apart from Golurk.
  With the exception of Chandy many can have trouble with steels, having to resort of focus miss
• only frosslass has entry hazards
• there are no phazers
• no fast physical attacker
• other than jellicent many lack reliable recovery

NOTABLE MEMBERS:



TYPE SYNERGY:

• Neutral to Dark: Sableye, Spiritomb
• Neutral to Ghost: Sableye, Spiritomb

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GRASS
PROS:

• Access to every entry hazard and status in the game, particularly Stealth Rock helps to take down Flying, Fire, Bug, and Ice pokemon that are strong against Grass.
• Can be played in balanced, hyper offense, and stall.
• Huge variety of Pokemon, so it is uncommon to have identical Grass teams.
• Can heal and sweep at the same time with boosted Giga Drains.
• Can generally beat most weathers, especially rain and sand.
• Most Grass-types are part-Poison, allowing easy removal of opponents Toxic Spikes.

CONS:

• Weak to U-Turn, very common currently in the OU metagame.
• Most Grass types tend to lean on the special side and therefore get walled by many special walls.
• Grass generally doesn't get good coverage paired up with other types, so you often have to make a choice to forego STAB or coverage.
• Some of monograss' best options are currently not released in DW, such as Technician Breloom and Contrary Serperior.

NOTABLE MEMBERS:

• Probably a Pokemon that is almost necessary for your Monograss, Ludicolo provides your team with a special tank, a check against dragons and Heatran, a good coverage sweeper, and much more. The Mexican pineapple will most likely be sponging most of the fire attacks aimed at your team, though it can also be used to launch a Rain Dance and become your main sweeper with Swift Swim. It can also be used on Stall with Rain Dish and Leech Seed, but without unlimited rain afforded by Drizzle, it is usually seen as less effective.
• An excellent little cottonball that ensures that you will never be fully swept as long as it's still alive on your team. With priority Encore and Stun Spore, you're able to take out set up sweepers (primarily DD users) before they can 6-0 you. Another thing to note though is Whimsicott's other options in Tailwind and Sunny Day, allowing you to get a number of turns where you can outspeed your opponent. You can even use both Whimsicott and Cottonee to pull a Prankster induced sun set-up for your team.
• Your sexy Durian is at it again in Monograss, getting up precious Stealth Rocks that cover most of the weaknesses to the team along with providing a way to slowly wittle down U-Turn users. Can also slow down your opponent's team with a well placed Thunder Wave and provide one of the only ways to handle a Brave Bird sweeper.
• While not the only way by far to play Monograss, setting up for a Sun sweep is a valid option for your team to consider. Sweepers such as Venusaur, Victreebel (which also has access to Sucker Punch), Sawsbuck, Leafeon, Leavanny, Exeggutor, Tangrowth, and others can attempt to overwhelm your opponents in a HO type manner, supported by Whimsicott and Cottonee.
• Breloom does an excellent job for the team with its ability to incapacitate one of your opponents Pokemon with Spore and then either go with a SubPunch set or a SD set. It is also one of the few physical Grass types and is the only Grass pokemon that carries reliable STAB recovery. Amoonguss can take very solid hits and take out a Pokemon due to sleep. It can also disable set up sweepers with Clear Smog. Parasect does well at taking on Rain teams with its Dry Skin ability and physical set, but Monograss generally does well with Rain teams anyways.
• Cradily pairs excellently with most of your team's weaknesses. Virizion is fast and can attack hard on the physical side with Close Combat/Stone Edge. Abomasnow is mentioned because of Snow Warning, but generally is an inferior Pokemon. Sceptile with a Choice Scarf and HP Ice provides a check to many Pokemon that you may have let set up. Rotom-C can use Trick to slow something down but doesn't provide much synergy. Nasty Plot Celebi is an excellent member to Monograss despite making it weaker to Bug moves, but can muscle past teams on its own with one turn of set up.
• (Dream World - unreleased) Huge boost to Mono Grass comes in the form of Technician Breloom, a monster of a Pokemon that can sleep its counter, SD on the switch, and then proceed to dismantle an entire team with a combination of Technician-boosted Mach Punch and Bullet Seed. Helps to take care of a lot of common Grass counters and can take on Hail teams pretty well.
• (Dream World - unreleased) Excellent Pokemon that can go through and sweep entirely on its own. A set with Leaf Storm and HP Rock is usually enough to get through most of Grass's weaknesses, often making you think you're running a "Mono Serperior" team than a "Mono Grass" team.

TYPE SYNERGY:

• Immune to Poison: Ferrothorn
• Neutral to Poison: Torterra, Amoongus, Roserade, Venusaur, Victreebel, Vileplume, Cradily
• Neutral to Flying: Cradily, Ferrothorn
• Neutral to Ice: Abomasnow, Ferrothorn, Ludicolo
• Neutral to Fire: Cradily, Ludicolo
• Neutral to Bug: Jumpluff, Shaymin-S, Tropius, Amoongus, Roserade, Venusaur, Victreebel, Vileplume, Ferrothorn

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GROUND
PROS:

CONS:

NOTABLE MEMBERS:

TYPE SYNERGY:

• Immune to Water: Quagsire, Seismitoad, Gastrodon
• Neutral to Water: Flygon, Garchomp, Torterra, Quagsire, Seismitoad, Gastrodon, Swampert
• Neutral to Grass: Flygon, Camerupt, Gliscor, Nidoking, Nidoqueen, Excadrill, Steelix
• Neutral to Ice: Camerupt, Mamoswine, Excadrill, Steelix, Quagsire, Seismitoad, Gastrodon, Swampert

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ICE
PROS:

• When using an mono-Ice team, you should always use a Hail team. Hail is what provides the extra oomph for an otherwise bad type. But with Hail, you gain 100% accurate, 180 base power Blizzards.
• Another benefit of Hail is the 6% damage to non-ice types, paired with abilities that enhance stalling in Snow Cloak and Ice Body.

CONS:

• Ice is a con in and of itself. It's the worst defensive type in the game, being weak to very common attacking types. Rock (Stealth Rock), Fire, Fighting, and Steel is an awful palette of weaknesses to have.
• Couple that with only 1 resist (Ice), and you're already fighting an uphill battle.

NOTABLE MEMBERS:

• This should always be your 1st Pokemon. Snow Warning summons a permanent hailstorm for your team. Abomasnow has some decent variety in its movepool, such as Focus Punch, Leech Seed, and STAB Grass attacks to hurt Water types trying to absorb Blizzards. Sadly, the secondary Grass type doesn't help with any of the weaknesses of Ice, but does provide more opportunities to switch in on Politoed, and a few other common Rain sweepers.
  
• One of the only Ice-typed "sweepers" available. It can attempt a sweep with Shell Smash, or provide team support with Rapid Spin, Spikes, and Toxic Spikes.
  
• Cryogonal is your best bet at a Rapid Spinner. Stealth Rock and Toxic Spikes especially are a large thorn in the side of the stallish nature of Hail teams. Cryogonal is an excellent Special Tank, and can use Recover to be able to spin for your team again later.
  
• Froslass is another almost mandatory addition to an Ice team. Sporting a very valuable Fighting immunity, high speed, Snow Cloak, and Spikes, Froslass provides excellent support. A combination of Substitute, Thunder Wave, Blizzard, and a little luck can be lethal to any team.
  
• Glaceon is tied with Kyurem for the strongest available Blizzard, with 130 Special Attack. There aren't many other reasons to use it, except maybe Wish, or an additional chance to end a sure sweep (via Snow Cloak), but both are unreliable.
  
• Kyurem is the Ice-typed wrecking ball. With 130 in both attacking stats, dual 180 base power STABS in Blizzard and Outrage, as well as the 210 base power Draco Meteor, Kyurem can power through even the bulkiest of Pokemon. It has decent speed, but struggles with speedy sweepers such as Terakion, and all forms of entry hazards.
  
• Mamoswine is another Ice-typed mainstay, being one of only 2 in the OU tier. Mamo provides a much needed attack from the physical side. with STAB Earthquake and priority in Ice Shard, as well as support via Stealth Rock and Roar. Snow Cloak helps get an occasional extra hit in on a threatening sweeper, and Endeavor can be used while at low health to bring any opponent into KO range.
  
• Rotom's refrigerator forme is another good support choice. STAB Volt Switch, Will-o-Wisp, and a decent recovery option in Pain Split with good bulk can really help play around certain threats.
  
• Although it has a worse typing, Walrein has greater bulk than Swampert, thanks to its 110 HP stat. And with Ice Body and Leftovers, and Substitute and Protect, "Stallrein" can do just that. It can stall anything the opponent throws at it, provided it gets the first Substitute up, for 32 entire turns. If you can manage to keep Cloyster's Toxic Spikes up, Walrein can stall as all of your opponent's grounded Pokemon die slowly and painfully.

TYPE SYNERGY:

• Immune to Fighting: Froslass
• Resistant to Fire: Dewgong (Thick Fat), Walrein (Thick Fat)
• Neutral to Fighting: Articuno, Delibird, Jynx
• Neutral to Fire: Kyurem, Cloyster, Dewgong, Lapras, Walrein, Mamoswine (Thick Fat)
• Neutral to Rock: Mamoswine
• Neutral to Steel: Cloyster, Dewgong, Lapras, Walrein, Rotom-F

[zyrefredric]

NORMAL
PROS:

• The second most abundant type in the game, providing a diverse range pokemon with which to build a team
• In general, Normal types have massive movepools, which in turn give them unpredictability and good coverage
• Only one weakness, Fighting-Type
• The type is uncommon, meaning some players may not be entirely sure how to handle some of your pokemon

CONS:

• Normal Type moves are not super-effective against anything, and are resisted by Rock and Steel types while having no effect on Ghosts
• Normals have only one immunity and no resistances, meaning damage can add up quickly.
• There are only two Normal-type spinners, and one may be the worst fully evolved pokemon in the game besides Unknown
• Many have below-average stats or gimmicky move pools, which gives fewer quality options than the massive amount of Normal types would suggest.
• Only one released FE pokemon (Clefable) has any resistance at all to Stealth Rock and only the Normal/Flying types are immune to Spikes or Toxic Spikes.

NOTABLE MEMBERS:

• Blissey and Chancey are probably the most notable Normal types, and they're grouped together because they serve virtually the same purpose. Their massive Special bulk makes them two of the best Walls in the game, and they provide incredible team support thanks to Wish, Aromatherapy, and Stealth Rocks. Blissey has Leftovers and a superior Special Attack, while Chancey has better overall bulk, but both are fine choices for any team
  
• Snorlax is one of the best boosting pokemon in the game, even more so if he's your last one standing. Thanks to his great bulk, huge Attack stat, and access to Curse, he can slowly but surely tank his way to victory. He can also run an effective Choice band set. Thick Fat and Immunity are both great abilities to choose from as well.
  
• Smeargle is very strange and has horrible stats, but is notable because he learns basically every move in the game. This can lead to some awesome set ups, such as Belly Drum passing, Status spreading, or Spiking. He is also the only Normal with access to Spikes or Toxic Spikes, making him a valuable asset to teams that require multiple hazards. He is also one of two Normal types with Rapid Spin, and trust me, you do not want to use Spinda.
  
• Staraptor is one of the most fearsome pokemon in the game because of great sweeping stats, two insanely powerful STAB moves, and a great coverage move thanks to Close Combat. He's probably the best Choiced sweeper among normal types, and it shows as he's punching holes in the opponent's team. Be careful, however, because most of his best moves have recoil damage.
  
• Porygon-Z boasts some of the most powerful moves in the game thanks to his ridiculous Special Attack and amazing abilities in Adaptability and Download. He's easily the best special sweeper and wall breaker among the normals.
  
• Porygon-2 becomes extremely bulky with Eviolite. Thanks to its improved defenses, good support movepool and access to Recover, he can stick around and pester your opponents for the whole match. He notably has access to the fairly exclusive ability Trace, potentially giving him some much needed immunities or Resistance from the likes of Flash Fire or Thick Fat.
  
• Sawsbuck is the only dual-typed Normals (besides Normal/Flying) that's actually usable. Thanks to two stellar abilities in Sap Sipper and Chlorophyll, he can potentially become a potent weapon against opposing weather. His grass typing gives him a resistance to Water, Sun teams must be weary of Chlorophyll, and Tyranitar fears his mighty Jump Kick.
  
• Ambipomb is one of the most annoying anti-leads in the game thanks to his high Attack and Speed, great ability in Technician, and Fake Out. He also boasts solid coverage and utility moves such as Low Kick and U-Turn, which lets him keep momentum on his user's side.
  
• Togekiss is one of the most versatile and threatening Normal pokemon. She can support the team with a Bulky Wish/Cleric set, spread status and annoy with Paraflinch, or set up a sweep with Nasty Plot. Always consider her for a mono-normal.
  
• Clefable is the only fully evolved Normal type with any kind of resistance to entry hazards or Burns and it's all thanks to her amazing ability, Magic Guard. Besides this, she has a great movepool, with access to moves such as Softboiled, Calm Mind, Heal Bell, and all three of the 95 BP elemental attacks.
  
• Miltank may be the best physical wall of her type, and like most of her brethren she's very versatile. She has a great support move pool, full of moves like Milk Drink, Heal Bell, and Stealth Rocks. She also has access to Curse, and can grab a surprise sweep Snorlax-style if it catches the opponent off-guard. In addition, she has three great abilities, one of them being the rare Scrappy, but Kangaskhan generally makes better use of it (see below)
  
• Kangaskhan is probably the best pure-normal Physical Sweeper. She has great stats, a good Physical moveset, and most importantly a very exclusive ability in Scrappy. This lets her forego a coverage move just for Ghosts since she can pound them with a mighty STAB Return. She also has access to a good priority move in Sucker Punch.
  
• Slaking is an unstoppable machine, or at least he would be if it weren't for Truant. Even so, he has an absolutely ridiculous 160 Base Attack and 100 Base Speed, which means he can be a scary Choiced pokemon. With good prediction, he can tear through teams with ease.

TYPE SYNERGY:

• Neutral to Fighting: Braviary, Chatot, Dodrio, farfetch'd, Fearow, Noctowl, Pidgeot, Staraptor, Swellow, Togekiss, Unfezant, Girafarig, Meloetta-A

________________________________________________

POISON
PROS:

• Weaknesses covered by those with immunities (Drapion, Levitators, Crobat)
• Has some of the fastest Pokes in the meta (Gengar, Scolipede, Crobat)
• Toxic immune
• Wicked mixed coverage
• Can use Black Sludge over Leftovers to screw over Trick users
• Plenty of support options, all well equipped with entry hazards
• Does pretty well in both rain (Tentacruel, Toxicroak) and sun (Venusaur)
• Spore user (Amoonguss)

CONS:

• Limited in typing combinations
• Weezing and Tentacruel are the only viable walls against Physical and Special sweepers respectively
• Only Natural Cure Roserade and Shed Skin Arbok can comfortably switch into all status. Gengar, the Nidos, and Toxicroak block Body Slam, T-Wave, and Scald respectively
• Only spinner is Tentacruel
• Only members immune to sandstorm are the Nidos
• Pretty much open to Psychic sweep without a Dark-type or Scarfed Sweeper I know from experience that Scarf Gengar, LO Toxicroak Sucker Punch, Scolipede, and especially Scarf Drapion can take down Psychic threats and Pokemon like Nidoking and Roserade bully slower Psychics with extremely powerful STAB
• Can't deal with Dragon attacks outside of "switch to lone wall". However, Scarf Gengar can easily revenge Dragon Pokemon

NOTABLE MEMBERS:



TYPE SYNERGY:

• Immune to Psychic: Drapion, Skuntank
• Immune to Ground: Crobat, Gengar, Weezing
• Neutral to Ground: Ariados, Beedrill, Dustox, Scolipede, Venomoth, Amoongus, Roserade, Venusaur, Victreebel, Vileplume
• Neutral to Psychic: none

________________________________________________

PSYCHIC
PROS:

• Diversity. There are a lot of psychic types, and all of them are incredibly different between one another, even pokemon who share the same typing have different roles (think Starmie & Slowbro))
• Support. Screens, Rooms, Trick, etc..., Psychic has so many options and so many powerful & bulky users it can do a whole lot of things)
• Versatility. A Psychic monotype may have very different playstyles: Trick Room team (Reuniclus, Slowbro/king, Bronzong, Metagross, Medichamp, Claydoll, even Victini after using V-create); Hyper Offense (Almost all FE Psychic types have dual screens, and according to the poke using them other nice tricks like T-Wave, Memento, Healing Wish & U-Turn, with powerful but frail sweepers like Alakazam, Azelf, Latios, etc...); or Balanced, which can be easily achieved (bulky attackers and supporters such as 2/3s of the pixies, and powerful sweepers)
• Fighting resistance. Considering the number of powerful Fighting pokemon in this gen that really helps it get through the metagame as you can shut their second option by typing or stats and don't get all wrecked by Hyper Offensive fighting teams
• Access to powerful abilities like Magic Bounce, Magic Guard and pokemon such as Wobbuffet

CONS:

• Weakness to common Dark and Ghost attacks, commonly used as coverage for fighting pokes making them a bit harder to deal with the fighting types (and being week to Pursuit can be hard sometimes); and Bug attacks, which while not really common it's still found in the ever-present U-turn

NOTABLE MEMBERS:



TYPE SYNERGY:

• Immune to Ghost: Girafarig, Meloetta-A
• Neutral to Bug: Gallade, Medicham, Darmanitan-Z, Lugia, Sigilyph, Xatu, Swoobat, Bronzong, Jirachi, Metagross
• Neutral to Dark: Gallade, Medicham, Bronzong, Jirachi, Metagross
• Neutral to Ghost: Bronzong, Jirachi, Metagross

________________________________________________

ROCK
PROS:

• High physical defense and attack stats across the board
• Permanent sandstorm, courtesy of Tyranitar, will wear down opposing pokes with 6.25 residual damage, and also provide a 1.5x boost to SpD
• Access to the triumvirate of stealth rocks, spikes, and toxic spikes
• A common ability in sturdy, a psuedo focus sash, albeit needing some rapid spin support

CONS:

• Weakness to Steel, Ground, and Fighting types nearly outweighs the high physical defense stats of the rock type
• Despite the 1.5x boost to SpD by sandstorm, water and grass types exploit common quad weaknesses of Rock/Ground and Rock/Water
• A general lack of speed outside of Terrakion, Aerodactyl, and Archeops leaves mono rock struggling to sweep, though rock polish sets attempt to rectify this problem
• Politoed's Drizzle will often spell a death sentence for a rock team

NOTABLE MEMBERS:

• Terrakion don't play games. His massive attack and clutch 108 speed stat make him a real force to be reckoned with.
• This 600 BST dinosaur is deciding whether you'll look better in an oak or mahogany coffin. Sand stream makes running T-tar vital to monorock success. The best way to get rid of Scizor and his banded bullet punch is to run babiri berry and fire blast for the ko.
• Lunatone is your new best friend, with psychic typing to make fighting attacks neutral and levitate to avoid EQ. I recommend dual screens for aided survivability. His psychic stab is vital to take out fighting threats.
• Solrock is similar to Lunatone, but has higher Attack and defense with lower SpA and SpD.
• Though weak to stealth rock himself, this mon has rapid spin and stealth rock all in one package. I recommend HP fire to kill Ferrothorn, Forretress, and Scizor, all who want very much to end your life with STAB steel attacks.
• Though not as pretty as Pamela Anderson, this lifeguard has your back in the water. Storm Drain, recover and curse makes Cradily your best bet to take on rain teams.
• Crustle has a great ability in sturdy, and good moves with spikes, stealth rock, and shell smash.
• Say hello to the new Omastar of your team. Spikes, toxic spikes, SR, shell smash, and a neutrality to steel give him a niche over other rock mons.
• Though frail as a flower, a blazing 130 speed stat with taunt and SR makes him a guaranteed choice to get up rocks while keeping the enemy's off the field.
• Although Kabutops has a powerful niche in lower tiers as a rain dance sweeper, he is probably going to do better as a rapid spinner, and he is not SR weak like Armaldo.
• Mr. Moustache Magnet Pull does his best to take out Skarmory and Scizor (and most other steel types), who will otherwise give a lot of trouble to monorock. For the love of all that is good, do not come in on a choice banded superpower. Recommended EV Spread: Max HP, Max SpA, to deal the max damage to trapped mons while taking the minimum yourself.

TYPE SYNERGY:

• Immune to Ground: Aerodactyl, Archeops, Lunatone, Solrock
• Immune to Water: Cradily
• Neutral to Ground: Armaldo, Crustle, Shuckle, Cradily
• Neutral to Water: Cradily, Carracosta, Corsola, Kabutops, Omastar, Relicanth
• Neutral to Fighting: Armaldo, Crustle, Aerodactyl, Archeops, Lunatone, Solrock
• Neutral to Grass: Armaldo, Crustle, Magcargo, Aerodactyl, Archeops, Cradily, Aggron, Bastiodon, Probopass
• Neutral to Steel: Aggron, Bastiodon, Probopass, Carracosta, Corsola, Kabutops, Omastar, Relicanth

________________________________________________

STEEL
PROS:

• Immunity to poison/toxic.
• Great amount of dual types.
• Good checks against their main counters (fighting,ground and fire)
• Acces to both Stealth Rocks and Spikes.
• Has a spinner.
• 9 Steel types in the OU tier.
• Big variety in 'jobs'. (Physical walls,Physical attackers, etc.)
• Resistances against many types.

CONS:

• No real fast steel pokemon except for Arceus.
• Lacks reliable recovery apart from Scizor and Skarmory.
• Infernape is almost always an instant win against Steel teams.

NOTABLE MEMBERS:


TYPE SYNERGY:

• Immune to Ground: Flying, Bronzong
• Immune to Fire: Heatran
• Neutral to Ground: Scizor, Wormadam-S, Forretress, Genesect, Durant, Escavalier, Ferrothorn
• Neutral to Fire: Dialga, Aggron, Bastiodon, Probopass, Empoleon
• Neutral to Fighting: Scizor, Wormadam-S, Forretress, Genesect, Durant, Skarmory, Bronzong, Jirachi, Metagross

________________________________________________

WATER
PROS:

• access to rain through Drizzle Politoed, which activates powerful abilities such as Hydration and Dry Skin, as well as effectively giving additional STAB to water attacks
• Water-types far outnumber all other types, and has been paired up with almost all other types, making diversity very high
• Water-Type also has good neutral coverage and with Rain Support even unboosted water attacks can do a lot of damage to neutral resistance Pokemon
• Most Water-Type Pokemon also learn moves to help deal with their weaknesses, as most Water-Type pokemon learn Ice Beam to help handle Grass-Types

CONS:

• Often once the rain dissapears water type pokemon have a lot more trouble when facing opposing weathers like sun or sandstorm.
• Mono water teams have difficulty dealing with alot of grass attacks especially if they are on a sun team, as then their own water stabs are weakened.

NOTABLE MEMBERS:



TYPE SYNERGY:

• Immune to Electric: Quagsire, Seismitoad, Gastrodon, Swampert, Lanturn, Seaking (Lightningrod)
• Immune to Grass: Azumarill (Sap Sipper)
• Neutral to Electric: Palkia, Kingdra, Lanturn, Ludicolo
• Neutral to Grass: Kingdra, Gyarados, Pelipper, Mantine, Swanna, Ludicolo, Qwilfish, Tentacruel, Empoleon

[zyrefredric]

These are the people who contributed to the analyses above. Much appreciation is given to all of them.

BUG

• Demist

DARK

• Shinzo
• ThePillsburyDoughBoy

DRAGON

• X5Dragon

ELECTRIC

• Tyranitarphantom

FIGHTING

• RedMeowth

FIRE

• The Reptile

FLYING

• Tonykantos

GHOST

• Eranu
• czechm8

GRASS

• justsomedude86

GROUND

• (none)

ICE

• Kingclown50

NORMAL

• 2sly4u

POISON

• ProfPeanut
• Katakiri

PSYCHIC

• Gerard

ROCK

• TheStarRapper

STEEL

• Eranu

WATER

• dragonuser

[Arcticblast]

Again, while this is minor, DW Azumarill and Seaking are immune to Grass and Electric, respectively. FUCK YEAH SEAKING

[Cooky]

Actually Garchomp (not sure if allowed in tier?) or Gabite get Stealth Rock for mono dragon. you could slap it easily on a choice set or run a bulky variant.

[Lucario_Guy]

While Garchomp is banned in OU (the very tier in which this project is taking place), I think it's worth mentioning Eviolite Gabite with Stealth Rocks for Mono-Dragon as Cooky suggested.

[TheStarRapper]

Rock

Pros:

• High physical defense and attack stats across the board
• Permanent sandstorm, courtesy of Tyranitar, will wear down opposing pokes with 6.25 residual damage, and also provide a 1.5x boost to SpD
• Access to the triumvirate of stealth rocks, spikes, and toxic spikes
• A common ability in sturdy, a psuedo focus sash, albeit needing some rapid spin support

Cons:

• Weakness to Steel, Ground, and Fighting types nearly outweighs the high physical defense stats of the rock type
• Despite the 1.5x boost to SpD by sandstorm, water and grass types exploit common quad weaknesses of Rock/Ground and Rock/Water
• A general lack of speed outside of Terrakion, Aerodactyl, and Archeops leaves mono rock struggling to sweep, though rock polish sets attempt to rectify this problem
• Politoed's Drizzle will often spell a death sentence for a rock team

Notable Members:

Terrakion don't play games. His massive attack and clutch 108 speed stat make him a real force to be reckoned with.


This 600 BST dinosaur is deciding whether you'll look better in an oak or mahogany coffin. Sand stream makes running T-tar vital to monorock success. The best way to get rid of Scizor and his banded bullet punch is to run babiri berry and fire blast for the ko.


Lunatone is your new best friend, with psychic typing to make fighting attacks neutral and levitate to avoid EQ. I recommend dual screens for aided survivability. His psychic stab is vital to take out fighting threats.


Solrock is similar to Lunatone, but has higher Attack and defense with lower SpA and SpD.


Though weak to stealth rock himself, this mon has rapid spin and stealth rock all in one package. I recommend HP fire to kill Ferrothorn, Forretress, and Scizor, all who want very much to end your life with STAB steel attacks.


Though not as pretty as Pamela Anderson, this lifeguard has your back in the water. Storm Drain, recover and curse makes Cradily your best bet to take on rain teams.


Crustle has a great ability in sturdy, and good moves with spikes, stealth rock, and shell smash.


Say hello to the new Omastar of your team. Spikes, toxic spikes, SR, shell smash, and a neutrality to steel give him a niche over other rock mons.


Though frail as a flower, a blazing 130 speed stat with taunt and SR makes him a guaranteed choice to get up rocks while keeping the enemy's off the field.


Although Kabutops has a powerful niche in lower tiers as a rain dance sweeper, he is probably going to do better as a rapid spinner, and he is not SR weak like Armaldo.


Mr. Moustache Magnet Pull does his best to take out Skarmory and Scizor (and most other steel types), who will otherwise give a lot of trouble to monorock. For the love of all that is good, do not come in on a choice banded superpower. Recommended EV Spread: Max HP, Max SpA, to deal the max damage to trapped mons while taking the minimum yourself.


Type Synergy:

• Neutral to Ground: Cradily, Armaldo, Shuckle, Crustle
• Neutral to Grass: Cradily, Armaldo, Shuckle, Crustle, Archeops, Aerodactyl, Aggron, Bastiodon, Magcargo, Probopass
• Neutral to Water: Omastar, Kabutops, Corsola, Relicanth, Carracosta
• Neutral to Fighting: Archeops, Aerodactyl, Armaldo, Shuckle, Crustle, Lunatone, Solrock
• Neutral to Steel: Omastar, Kabutops, Corsola, Relicanth, Carracosta, Aggron, Bastiodon, Magcargo, Probopass
• Immune to Ground: Lunatone, Solrock, Archeops, Armaldo
• Immune to Water: Cradily

Tips/Tricks: This is one of those types where is best to not focus on covering up weaknesses, and instead play to your offensive strengths and win the match quickly. Terrakion, BandTar, and ShellSmash (Omastar, Carracosta) are your best bets to get the victory, and get out.

[2sly4u]

Normal

Pros:

• The second most abundant type in the game, providing a diverse range pokemon with which to build a team
• In general, Normal types have massive movepools, which in turn give them unpredictability and good coverage
• Only one weakness, Fighting-Type
• The type is uncommon, meaning some players may not be entirely sure how to handle some of your pokemon

Cons:

• Normal Type moves are not super-effective against anything, and are resisted by Rock and Steel types while having no effect on Ghosts
• Normals have only one immunity and no resistances, meaning damage can add up quickly.
• There are only two Normal-type spinners, and one may be the worst fully evolved pokemon in the game besides Unknown
• Many have below-average stats or gimmicky move pools, which gives fewer quality options than the massive amount of Normal types would suggest.
• Only one released FE pokemon (Clefable) has any resistance at all to Stealth Rock and only the Normal/Flying types are immune to Spikes or Toxic Spikes.

Notable Members:

Blissey and Chancey are probably the most notable Normal types, and they're grouped together because they serve virtually the same purpose. Their massive Special bulk makes them two of the best Walls in the game, and they provide incredible team support thanks to Wish, Aromatherapy, and Stealth Rocks. Blissey has Leftovers and a superior Special Attack, while Chancey has better overall bulk, but both are fine choices for any team


Snorlax is one of the best boosting pokemon in the game, even more so if he's your last one standing. Thanks to his great bulk, huge Attack stat, and access to Curse, he can slowly but surely tank his way to victory. He can also run an effective Choice band set. Thick Fat and Immunity are both great abilities to choose from as well.


Smeargle is very strange and has horrible stats, but is notable because he learns basically every move in the game. This can lead to some awesome set ups, such as Belly Drum passing, Status spreading, or Spiking. He is also the only Normal with access to Spikes or Toxic Spikes, making him a valuable asset to teams that require multiple hazards. He is also one of two Normal types with Rapid Spin, and trust me, you do not want to use Spinda.


Staraptor is one of the most fearsome pokemon in the game because of great sweeping stats, two insanely powerful STAB moves, and a great coverage move thanks to Close Combat. He's probably the best Choiced sweeper among normal types, and it shows as he's punching holes in the opponent's team. Be careful, however, because most of his best moves have recoil damage.


Porygon-Z boasts some of the most powerful moves in the game thanks to his ridiculous Special Attack and amazing abilities in Adaptability and Download. He's easily the best special sweeper and wall breaker among the normals.


Porygon-2 becomes extremely bulky with Eviolite. Thanks to its improved defenses, good support movepool and access to Recover, he can stick around and pester your opponents for the whole match. He notably has access to the fairly exclusive ability Trace, potentially giving him some much needed immunities or Resistance from the likes of Flash Fire or Thick Fat.


Sawsbuck is the only dual-typed Normals (besides Normal/Flying) that's actually usable. Thanks to two stellar abilities in Sap Sipper and Chlorophyll, he can potentially become a potent weapon against opposing weather. His grass typing gives him a resistance to Water, Sun teams must be weary of Chlorophyll, and Tyranitar fears his mighty Jump Kick.


Ambipomb is one of the most annoying anti-leads in the game thanks to his high Attack and Speed, great ability in Technician, and Fake Out. He also boasts solid coverage and utility moves such as Low Kick and U-Turn, which lets him keep momentum on his user's side.


Togekiss is one of the most versatile and threatening Normal pokemon. She can support the team with a Bulky Wish/Cleric set, spread status and annoy with Paraflinch, or set up a sweep with Nasty Plot. Always consider her for a mono-normal.


Clefable is the only fully evolved Normal type with any kind of resistance to entry hazards or Burns and it's all thanks to her amazing ability, Magic Guard. Besides this, she has a great movepool, with access to moves such as Softboiled, Calm Mind, Heal Bell, and all three of the 95 BP elemental attacks.


Miltank may be the best physical wall of her type, and like most of her brethren she's very versatile. She has a great support move pool, full of moves like Milk Drink, Heal Bell, and Stealth Rocks. She also has access to Curse, and can grab a surprise sweep Snorlax-style if it catches the opponent off-guard. In addition, she has three great abilities, one of them being the rare Scrappy, but Kangaskhan generally makes better use of it (see below)


Kangaskhan is probably the best pure-normal Physical Sweeper. She has great stats, a good Physical moveset, and most importantly a very exclusive ability in Scrappy. This lets her forego a coverage move just for Ghosts since she can pound them with a mighty STAB Return. She also has access to a good priority move in Sucker Punch.


Slaking is an unstoppable machine, or at least he would be if it weren't for Truant. Even so, he has an absolutely ridiculous 160 Base Attack and 100 Base Speed, which means he can be a scary Choiced pokemon. With good prediction, he can tear through teams with ease.

Type Synergy:
No Normal type resists Fighting, but any Normal/Flying and Girafarig are neutral to it. Birabel (lol) and Sawsbuck can provide some secondary resistances, as can Miltank, Snoralx, and other pokemon with Thick Fat or Sap Sipper.
Tips/Tricks:Because normal-types have such horrible defensive typing, your best bet is probably to go more offensive and try to overwhelm your opponents. Make sure you pack a way to handle Ghosts, Steels and Rocks. Many pokemon can learn Earthquake for the latter two, and some can learn Pursuit to trap pesky Ghosts immune to your STAB. Stall is a horrible idea and should never be considered since there is only one Spiker/TSpiker and there is no way to block Rapid Spin. As far as threats go, Terrakion gets special mention because he packs a Normal resistance, has a Super-Effective STAB Close Combat, and has some of the best stats in the game.

NOTE: I wasn't sure if I should include DW Ditto/Meoletta, so I didn't. Also, I'll remove some notable pokemon if you think that's too many (there's just so many Normal types :p)

[solosisfan]

WOW ok this has nothing to do with this but...... NICE CONTRABUTIONS EVERYONE

[ElectivireRocks]

Rock is the worst defensive type in the game, not Ice. This should be pointed out in the analysis.

[Unbreakable]

I think you should probably add to the Normal analysis the value of Bibarel's STAB coverage and access to Aqua Jet to make him one of the better cleaners that Normal has to offer, plus he can make use of opposing rain to an extent. Still, he's virtually useless without being passed a swords dance first.

[2sly4u]

Originally Posted by Fat Unbreakable

I think you should probably add to the Normal analysis the value of Bibarel's STAB coverage and access to Aqua Jet to make him one of the better cleaners that Normal has to offer, plus he can make use of opposing rain to an extent. Still, he's virtually useless without being passed a swords dance first.

I had Birabel on there, but I deleted him because I didn't feel he was as valuable in general compared to the other featured ones and I can't just list every fully evolved normal up there.

[ThePillsburyDoughBoy]

Originally Posted by Fat ElectivireRocks

Rock is the worst defensive type in the game, not Ice. This should be pointed out in the analysis.

how is rock worse than Ice? Rock has a relevant Fire and Flying resist and does not have the debilitating weaknesses that Ice has, particularly the rock weakness (say hello SR). Additionally rock gets and automatic 50% boost in sandstrorm, an advantage no other type can boast. It is the reason why ttar can wall the likes of Lati's, Heatran, and Tornadus even when they have a super effective move against you and why Psyshock is reccomended to kill Terrakion on Choice scarf latios.

[zyrefredric]

Edited in the contributions for Normal and Rock. As of now, only Ground monotype doesn't have an entry. At this point, what needs to be done is a review of all analyses, rewriting/adding/removing some parts if there is a need to do so.

[justsomedude86]

I might be able to get in on working up a ground type analysis within the next few days, but if anyone thinks they can do so before I can please feel free!

[vynka]

#1 Con to Water Types has a name and it's Ferrothorn.

[Diatom]

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

[alexwolf]

Why isn't Haxorus in the dragon type analysis?

[2sly4u]

The Fighting type analysis needs to be worked on. There's a ton of first-person writing and lots of opinions instead of analysis (especially when it comes to Poliwrath). The fact he's even on there over something like Conkeldurr or Breloom is... surprising to say the least. Other Fighting-types who should be included are Machamp, Mienshao, Virizion, Toxicroak, and Heracross. I can do it tomorrow, if no one else wants to.

[justsomedude86]

Giving this topic a bump before it falls too low. Been busy with work so I haven't written up the analysis yet, but I've been testing out a couple of ground teams for the analysis. Want to post something that isn't just theorymon, you know? Anyways hope to have the whole write up done tonight!

[justsomedude86]

Hey guys just a thought, but now that BW2 are literally around the corner, should we wait a week or two to update monotype? We're getting some really game changing move tutor moves at the moment (not even counting new egg moves!) and things might really change for some pokemon right around the corner.

[RainbowCrash]

Water
Keldeo in water type that poke is going to mess everything up
gorebyss shell smash and pass is also very good
suicune is also a very good threat
Simple Quagsire is also very good


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[The Reptile]

Ghost
- Golurk learns Stealth Rock, allowing them to fully abuse spin blocking.
- Cofagrigus got Pain Split and ResTalk, adding more walls to the group
- Dusclops is totally a wall, and Dusknoir is totally a physical attacker.
- Pursuit weakness. :(

Flying
- 3 new genies, omaigod
- Thundurus-T has powerful SpAtk and decent speed, and a usable movepool.
- Tornadus-T has good bulk, amazing speed, and decent power. No Hurricane spam though. Heat Wave is cool.
- Landorus-T gives us Intimidate and a huge Attack stat. Speed is a bit lack luster though.
- Gliscor got a HUGE boost with Roost and Stealth Rock + Poison Heal.