4th Gen OU Mono Poison Team (Singles)

[AstralAbyss]

My team at first glance~

Before you rate, please understand that this team DOES deviate quite from what is the "norm" on Smogon; I tend to be that way when making my teams. I already have given much thought to the team and have tested it in PO; it's not bad if used correctly, perhaps it's just my naïveté and this team is the best that it can get for a Mono-Poison being used outside Monotype. However, I don't think so hence the reason for me posting this. Furthermore, this team is meant for Pokemon Battle Revolution Wi-Fi more than anything else. Random Wi-Fi on PBR is only 3-on-3 Singles or 4-on-4 Doubles. You may notice the lack of entry hazards; the reason for that is the 3-on-3 battle style, however I still wish for it to function relatively well in 6-on-6. I just don't feel like wasting a moveslot for entry hazards if the style of play the team will MOSTLY be playing in has little use for it. EDIT: Also, they're no wildcards for a reason! I don't feel it is TRUE Monotype if ANY other Pokemon is placed in it without having the Team's typing.

Clauses this team follows:
Species Clause
Uber Clause (its OU so :l)
Sleep Clause
Item Clause (No, I'm not joking)

My Team
-----------------------------

Crobat (M) @ Black Sludge
Trait: Inner Focus
EVs: 232 HP / 56 Def / 76 SDef / 144 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Taunt
- Super Fang
- Brave Bird
- Roost

Purpose: Stallbreaker/Lead: Crobat provides a decent lead-in due to its key traits. First off, its incredible speed will see it outpacing most leads, except namely Aerodactyl and other Crobat, which have the same base Speed Stat. Second, Inner Focus. Now for a fast poke like Crobat flinching isn't a problem unless paralyzed, but in a Lead position it helps with Infernape/Ambipom and other Fake Out users hoping to get a free hit in and possibly break a sash will actually have it backfire giving Crobat a free turn to attack or Taunt. Lastly, the combination of a strong STAB move, Super Fang, and reliable recovery allow Crobat to tear through certain walls and set-ups. This provides great use for Crobat outside the lead position. Due to this combination, I removed U-turn, as it did not seem to helpful only causing minimal damage for a fast switch-out which can be done without it anyway. The item Black Sludge acts as a 2nd Leftovers while obeying the item clause and also will be an unpleasant surprise to any Trick Leads wishing to pass Crobat a Choice item. Also, it is of no threat to my team as if they decide to Trick it back, it is simply Leftovers to any of the members of my team. A nice touch. ^^

Tentacruel (F) @ Chesto Berry
Trait: Liquid Ooze
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Sludge Bomb
- Rest
- Mirror Coat

Purpose: Weak Special Wall/Sweeper- Tentacruel was placed as a much needed Fire (Heatran especially) check to the team. Hydro Pump and Sludge Bomb allow her to hit hard even off a base 80 Sp. Atk, whilst using STAB and decent coverage. Not to mention the Poison chance that may lead into a Rest Stall. Mirror Coat, although strange is mainly for her counters that try to take it out with a powerful Special Attack can be reflected to take out threats. i.e. Bulky Zapdos is unable to OHKO with Thunderbolt and ends up being OHKOed itself from Mirror Coat. Yes, it is risky, but it gives a nice heavy return. Also, it isn't seen coming as common metagame Tentacruel don't wield Mirror Coat. ChestoRest is there to assure Tentacruel can keep functioning after a Mirror Coat use, to either pursue attacking or for another potential Mirror Coat. Liquid Ooze for the annoying Pokemon who want to seed her to death, they will receive the wrath of draining from the Poisons. That and Clear Body is virtually useless since stat-lowering moves outside Intimidate are virtually non-existent.

Gengar (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
- Pain Split (not set in stone)

-Purpose: Special Sweeper with Subs: Poison, being a defensive type, needed to have some raw power in it as well, and this set works well for the team. Gengar provides Levitate which can allow him switch in on the opponents EQ, hopefully entice a switch in so he can prepare a Substitute and then pick his poison on how to deal with the incoming Pokemon. Pain Split is there for when Life Orb and Sub damage become high so she can leech more health for her attacks and Subs. However, Pain Split could be removed if another move becomes more appealing as Gengar generally has trouble setting up multiple Subs without them being taken down. Though tough to switch in on, Psychics can be taken out by his Shadow Ball, or made to switch for an easy setup. Focus Blast is there over Hidden Power [Fighting] due to the need for power, sure Focus Blast will fail 30% of the time, but to me that's much better than Hidden Power [Fighting] failing 100% of the time due to lack of brute force. Ghost/Fighting provides irrc perfect coverage hitting at least neutral on every Pokemon. In addition, Focus Blast works well at taking down Steels that are immune to the Team's overall STAB and the Dark Pokemon sent in to take out Gengar. Main problem with Gengar is when a faster Pursuit Pokemon (i.e. Weavile) comes in on it when a Sub isn't out; she's going down. Even if the Pursuit Pokemon isn't faster, if Gengar fails to OHKO it, she'll fall.

Drapion (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Sniper
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Pursuit
- Night Slash
- Ice Fang
- Earthquake

Purpose: Absorbing Psychic Attacks/Pursuit Trapping Sweeper: I listened to the input I received and pulled out Drapion once more with a different set. This time I went for more "coming out firing on all cylinders" approach. Drapion can come in on the bait that is the rest of my team to absorb Psychic and if it is a frail Psychic-type, proceed to Pursuit and take it out efficiently allowing the rest of the team to battle safely. Night Slash was placed as the alternative for more powerful Psychic users as well as a nice STAB attack that more efficiently uses the Sniper ability unlike Crunch. Earthquake is for the Metagrosses/Jirachis that are dancing around OU that can carry Psychic moves (generally Jirachi) and hopefully defeat them, while providing nice coverage. Ice Fang felt more filler than anything, I may replace it with Cross Poison for additional STAB with a high-crit rate, but its purpose was for the Dragons and Gliscor that are in OU as well as Grass-types.

Nidoking (M) @ Expert Belt
Trait: Rivalry
EVs: 56 Atk / 200 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Earthquake
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Sucker Punch

Purpose: Coverage Sweeper- This set comes off quite strange with its use of Rivalry, however most Pokemon are male or genderless, and this provides great extra power due to the lack of Life Orb as well as an unknown surprise factor because Poison Point is the standard. Expert Belt serves as a needed power boost to its Super-Effective attacks that tend to happen with such good coverage as this Nidoking has. It has the infamous BoltBeam combo as well as a powerful STAB Earthquake which will ensure it hitting that Super-Effective mark quite often. Lastly, Sucker Punch is useful as it isn't standard on Nidoking giving an additional surprise factor along with Rivalry as well as helping deal with Psychics, and as a finishing priority move.

Weezing (M) @ Black Sludge
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SAtk
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Fire Blast
- Thunderbolt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Haze

Purpose: Physical Wall- Weezing serves as a great check to Physical attackers as well as being immune to Ground attacks. With Fire Blast and Thunderbolt for coverage it can deal some decent damage off a rather mediocre Special Attack stat. Will-O-Wisp is the reason why Weezing is infamous for crippling Physical Attackers and is an obvious choice. Finally, Haze to be used on those pesky Pokemon that Rest off burn and continue to set up, and as a general walling tool as well. Pain Split/Explosion used to be in that moveslot, but I found Weezing being taken out before ever using it.


There. I believe I followed all of the RMT rules well. I'm new to the forums, but have been battling competitively for quite some time. This is also my first post, so hopefully nothing is messed up. Please offer some constructive criticism to team! Thank you all in advance. And sorry for any grammatical errors ><, I typed this up as a train of thought and didn't go back and read over it like a term paper, mostly cause I find it awkward for some reason :/. So yeah, I fail with punctuation...and shtuff.

THANKS AGAIN! ^^

 

[AstralAbyss]

Bump.

 

[Jaetheho]

u NEED a drapion on any mono poison team. otherwise, alakazam or celebi or watever sweeps throught this team. (smart alakazam players carry substitute so sucker punch isnt a problem)

 

[MaverickMeerkat]

Any mono type team is never really going to threaten the metagame environment. It's always nice to follow the "gym leader" approach but you'll often find it's more problematic than rewarding. I've never reworked someone else's team before, so I'll give it ago whilst trying to keep the whole poison theme going...
It's a mammoth change but you should like it. A first glance of the team would look like this...

Toxic Spikes Lead
Tentacruel @ Leftovers
Liquid Ooze
EV: 252 SPD/252 DEF/6 HP
Timid Nature
-Toxic Spikes
-Ice Beam
-Rapid Spin
-Surf

I like this Tentacruel as a lead. It is very unorthodox, but these days when everyone is running the same Pokemon in the same jobs with similar move sets; unorthodox and surprise tactics can win you a game. Rather than being like many lead Pokemon, suicidal, Tent here has the bulk to do a successful job at leading your pack and supporting, but can also turn cheek and retaliate to an opposing lead. I know there isn't a Stealth Rock here, but if all goes to plan; your opponent shouldn't have one on the field either. So it's not all bad. Toxic Spikes are a poisonous alternative I guess, and can wreak havoc on other teams all the same. Rapid Spin can be used to get rid of an opponents SR and Tent has the bulk to do both easily. He's also faster than Roserade. Tentacruel here can be a real surprise lead that can sort out many favoured leads in OU such as Aerodactyl. One Ice Beam there can wipe him out before Spinning away his inevitable SR that your opponent counted so much upon. The EV's and nature here are designed to get Tentacruel moving before many other leads or to sustain a fews hits if that isn't possible. Effectively, we have a lead here; capable of returning to the play to stall a few special hits too. Dual purpose is my favourite type of unpredictable play.

Baton Passer
Gliscor @ Yache Berry
Hyper Cutter
EV: 252 HP/196 SP.DEF/60 SPD
Timid Nature
-Swords Dance
-Rock Polish
-Taunt
-Baton Pass

Gliscor, in my opinion is one of the best BP's in the game. The ability to pass on both speed and attack is always cherished but Gliscor has enough bulk to pass over more than one use of each if the situation is friendly enough. Taunt is there to stop anyone trying to mess you BP chain with Roar or stat lowering moves. I like putting the Yache Berry on Gliscor has he does have an unfortunate 4x weakness to Ice. All the EV's here are to increase bulk has he's doing a very limited amount of damage, defence is already respectable so special gets more of a hand out. Speed too is necessary to do this job successfully. Also, Gliscor is purple so could sorta pass for the poison type, bad stereotyping there. :p

Ghillie Suit Sniper
Drapion @ Life Orb
Sniper
EV: 252 SPD/252 ATK/6 SP.DEF
Adamant Nature
-Pursuit
-Cross Poison
-Ice Fang
-Night Slash


Bluemon was definitely right. A poison team without a Drapion is a crime against nature. Although UU, he can definitely hold his own in this little role that I've created for him. I'll start with the EV's. Obvious choice for an attacker. Max speed and attack and drop out special attack with an Adamant nature. All pretty self explanatory, so I won't go on. Drapion's typing here can really screw over the Psychic types that are otherwise going to rip your team apart. My ideal strategy with Drap would be to lure in the Psychic type intent on destroying your team, with another poison type and scaring the hell out of them with a switch to Drapion. Who'll then get in a quick Pursuit when they switch to rock the boat a little. Besides from that, using Drapion here takes little thinking power. Ice Fang is in to stop the ground types that'll be x2ing on the other poison types. Then we have Cross Poison and it's dark equivalent Night Slash. These two attacks both utilize Drapion's maxed out attack stat and have high Critical hit chances that work well with Sniper. Once paired with Gliscor, Drapion suddenly has a commendable attacking force that can use the power of luck and chance too, to sweep through teams.

Special Sweeper
Gengar @ Life Orb
Levitate
EV: 252 SPD/252 SP.ATK/6 HP
Modest Nature
-Psychic
-Sludge Bomb
-Energy Ball
-Thunderbolt

The original special sweeper is back! I know you had a different set Gengar planned, but this own here is tailored to your teams needs a little better. Obvious EV's and nature. Psychic to add coverage over opposing poison types and sludge bomb to follow the main styling of your squad. Also making the cut are Thunderbolt and Energy Ball. Both take use of Gengars wicked special attack and give coverage over ground, water and flying types. Little else to say as Gengar's strategy is pretty easy to figure and I've cut out the trickery he could use to focus on good ol' pound for pound power.

Physical Wall
Forretress @ Leftovers
Sturdy
EV: 252 DEF/140 ATK/118 HP
Impish Nature
-Earthquake
-Stealth Rock
-Gravity
-Reflect

Forretress is a brilliant Physical Wall to any team for his high Defence stat heaps of immunities. Although he does have a x4 weakness to fire types, you can simply turn on the Earthquake or else switch to Tentacruel. I'd recommend the latter, as Forretress is slower than the Post Office queue on pension day. Stealth Rock almost makes a welcome appearance to this set and can set up a late entry hazard that could KO several weakened Pokes and possibly win you the game. I've also added a Reflect to really slow down physical attackers to the point of delirium. Gravity works to stop Earthquake not having an effect and keeps an open working move slot as a ground type move only has one weakness to grass.

Annoyer
Rotom-H @ Leftovers
Levitate
EV: 252 SPD/252 HP/6 DEF
Timid Nature
-Will-O-Wisp
-Toxic
-Rest
-Confuse Ray

Now nearing the bottom half of your team, I think we've covered walling and sweeping so I've put in Rotom to do a different job. Annoying. It's wasting a nice special attack stat I know. But Gengar does that job to a much high level, so using nice double defences to make your opponent pull out his or her hair always leaves a nice taste. We have choices here, Confusion is a nice status that can double up with another and anything that frustrates your enemy is good. It'll make them impatient and more likely to make a poor choice of judgment in a place where one mistake can throw the game. After a CF, you have the choice. Toxic in full poison style fashion to wear away HP from those pesky walls and can be used with Rest to watch a Blissey beaten at her own game. Or Will-O-Wisp on the more offensively inclined problems. A burn to cut down attack and then a quick switch the someone with the wipeout power is always nifty. EV's here are again pretty self explanatory, Rotom isn't famous for speed so max that out for all the help you can get and HP up as both defences don't really need a great deal of working.



And that pretty much covers your new team, I know it's a lot of work and changes. But I hope you like what I've done to it. It could be a threatening side in OU whilst still keeping that poison theme. I'm pretty proud of this team already and hopefully it'll grow on you.

 

[AstralAbyss]

Thank you for the enormous amount of advice MaverickMeerkat, I tested your new team and it seems that it lacks power. Tentacruel has a tough time dealing with leads that don't try to set up rocks. Gliscor is useless after a Baton Pass to Drapion, assuming he can pull it off. Drapion himself isn't bad, so I incorporated one into my new team, which I will post as an edit shortly. Gengar, though strange was okay, the only problem is his survivability, as he can't switch in safely often when he comes in he generally has to stay in, especially if a Pursuit threat (commonly Weavile and Scizor) come in. On to Forretress, while he is a SPLENDID Physical Wall, he just has little use outside it, unless the opposite team is stuck on Physical attackers he can't do much. Even on the things he walls he has trouble dealing damage against, which can be very problematic. Finally, Rotom-F (I used F to troll my opponents and because it had a Purple out-ling which gave it the Poison feel, since you weren't using Overheat/Blizzard anyways.) Though interesting, I found that without an attack move he was useless when the opponent was status-ed by my T-Spikes and Confused. Not to mention the whole team already is begging for a Taunt to kill it. I found SLOWBRO walling Rotom-F due to Own Tempo and Slack Off; extremely ironic as Rotom-F having both STABs against Slowbro.

All-in-all, I thank you greatly for the effort you put into this team, I can clearly see that you DID put some thinking and time into this. I even believed it could've worked, or else I wouldn't have tested it, however it just didn't stick together. I will post my own personal revision I made overtime with my mono-poison team. Oh, and I would REALLY like to keep it Mono-Poison; without any wild cards, simply because it just doesn't feel like a Mono-Poison team otherwise. I didn't mind switching to your way to see how it worked, and if the team worked I would have been gracious and kept it, however I would still be trying to build a Mono-Poison team that fit my standards.

Again, Thank you for the great amount of effort you put into helping me. I truly appreciate it.

 

[MaverickMeerkat]

Sure no problem. The only way to see if a team or individual Pokemon works is to test it and unfortunately I didn't do any of that so. I kinda believed that a more poison style approach would have used subtlety rather than raw offensive power, but if that doesn't work for you then don't play that way. Just keep an eye out for any weak links in your team when you do another draft and put in something to trap them out. Good luck buddy, let me know how it goes.