Hi there ^^ Welcome to my first RMT, a Normal Monotype team. I had problems advancing the ladder and I couldn't really point them out, so I thought I'd do a RMT to see how else I could improve my team. Enjoy!
My team at a glance:
And in detail:
lopunny why aren't you moving much ;;
Lopunny (F) @ Lopunnite
Ability: Limber
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Fake Out
- Return
- Ice Punch
My Mega of choice, M-Lopunny is arguably one of the most dangerous Normal physical attackers with a huge speed stat to boot, she acts as powerful late game sweeper once walls/tanks are removed. Limber allows her to switch into T-waves and her set is pretty standard, with Fake Out giving her a turn for her to M-evolve, HJK and Return as powerful STABs (with Scrappy ensuring it will hit any type) and Ice Punch as coverage primarily against Dragon or Flying types.
Porygon2 @ Eviolite
Ability: Trace
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Ice Beam
- Toxic
- Discharge
- Recover
Porygon2, affectionately referred to as P2 from this point on, is my team's physical tank, and a fantastic one at that. P2 is able to take pretty much any unboosted non-SE physical hits and survive with a rather large chunk of its health still intact. P2 also serves as practically my only way to deal with mono-Dragon teams, appreciating the set-up from Smeargle and being able to sweep through them with Ice Beam. Toxic is on P2 to wear down set-up-mons since it can take quite a few hits, Discharge is for coverage, to hit things that resist Ice Beam, and a pretty good paralysis chance, and Recover is a staple source of recovery.
Staraptor @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Defog
- Feather Dance
Staraptor is a beast; while not quite being able to wall like P2, his bulkiness allows him to switch in to otherwise fatal Fighting moves for P2 and slowly force a switch. Brave Bird is there as a powerful STAB, as well as hitting anything that likes trying to counterbalance Feather Dance's effect, Roost is there for recovery, Defog is there to remove hazards should they get too annoying, and Feather Dance is there to reduce Attack (obviously), which sooner or later will force a switch. While I had reservations with using this set as opposed to a more offensive set, I soon found it a better option and more effective as well.
Chansey (F) @ Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Soft-Boiled
- Seismic Toss
- Thunder Wave
- Heal Bell
My team's special wall/cleric; I actually considered putting in Blissey instead of her, but Eviolite boosts her amazing Sp. Def into high heavens, which is much more favorable compared to the luxury of Leftovers recovery. I gave Chansey this EV spread simply so she doesn't get destroyed by anything mixed or Psyshock (lol 5 base Def). With these EVs and Eviolite her Def actually reaches 218, and while it doesn't look impressive, she does have 642 HP. Her set is nothing unusual, with Soft-Boiled acting as the main source of recovery without Leftovers, Seismic Toss as a fantastic way to deal damage to anything that likes setting up in front of Chansey (looking at you Volcarona/Chatot) and Heal Bell to vanquish all those evil status effects. I debated between T-wave and Toxic on her but ultimately stuck with the former as I already have Toxic on P2 and being able to kill many special attackers with T-wave/Seismic Toss is not only funny, but satisfying.
Exploud (M) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Boomburst
- Overheat
- Focus Blast
- Surf
Exploud is this team's special attacker and functions well as one. Exploud's slot used to be a Meloetta, but I changed to him since he offers a wider coverage and has no fear of Ghosts swapping in to Boomburst/FB. Frankly, I'm torn between running a bulky and fast Exploud, opting for the latter because of reliance Smeargle's Sticky Web (which is both a good and bad thing I guess). Boomburst is very standard on Explouds and will destroy anything that doesn't resist it or isn't a dedicated special wall, Overheat is for dealing with Steel types (considering to change it to Fire Blast to ignore the -2 effect), Focus Blast is for Rocks/Steels that resist Boomburst, and Surf is a coverage move to hit Fire types.
Smeargle (F) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spore
- Sticky Web
- Magic Coat
- Stealth Rock
Last up on my team's roster is Smeargle, usually the lead for my team (ironic really). This too is a rather standard set on Smeargle and usually I try to keep Smeargle alive so she can set up again if necessary. Spore is there as a good way to ensure at least another turn of setting up, Sticky Web and Stealth Rock as the only entry hazards I need and Magic Coat to throw back statuses, other hazards and most importantly Taunt.
Threatlist:
Please do note that as I'm rather new, I'm not that good at identifying threats, but here are some I found. If you feel that there are more, do suggest ^^
Naturally, a Normal team's weakness would be Fighting types. For the most part, I don't need to worry about special moves as they are rare on Fighting types, and slower Fighting types can be weakened by Toxic and Feather Dance and then slowly taken out, but these 2 are my biggest concerns. Scarfed Heracross outspeeds my entire team and can take them out with relative ease with Close Combat and M-Medicham's HJK hits extremely hard, even on Staraptor. This means that usually I have to sacrifice 1-2 to be able to take them out, and its even worse when they are both on the same team.
While Dragons are a big concern for many teams, mine can dispose most of them with relative ease thanks to P2 and M-Lopunny, except for these 2. Dragonite is usually seen as a lead; as I start with Smeargle, Lum Berry Dragonites basically get 2 free DDs off and sweeps the rest of my team rather easily, forcing me to have to lead with P2 which hurts quite a bit for the rest of the game since I don't have Sticky Web support. M-Altaria is a problem as well as its extremely tanky and capable of running a mixed set, which is problematic for both P2 and Chansey.
Thanks for reading my first RMT!
My team at a glance:
And in detail:
Lopunny (F) @ Lopunnite
Ability: Limber
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Fake Out
- Return
- Ice Punch
My Mega of choice, M-Lopunny is arguably one of the most dangerous Normal physical attackers with a huge speed stat to boot, she acts as powerful late game sweeper once walls/tanks are removed. Limber allows her to switch into T-waves and her set is pretty standard, with Fake Out giving her a turn for her to M-evolve, HJK and Return as powerful STABs (with Scrappy ensuring it will hit any type) and Ice Punch as coverage primarily against Dragon or Flying types.
Porygon2 @ Eviolite
Ability: Trace
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Ice Beam
- Toxic
- Discharge
- Recover
Porygon2, affectionately referred to as P2 from this point on, is my team's physical tank, and a fantastic one at that. P2 is able to take pretty much any unboosted non-SE physical hits and survive with a rather large chunk of its health still intact. P2 also serves as practically my only way to deal with mono-Dragon teams, appreciating the set-up from Smeargle and being able to sweep through them with Ice Beam. Toxic is on P2 to wear down set-up-mons since it can take quite a few hits, Discharge is for coverage, to hit things that resist Ice Beam, and a pretty good paralysis chance, and Recover is a staple source of recovery.
Staraptor @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Defog
- Feather Dance
Staraptor is a beast; while not quite being able to wall like P2, his bulkiness allows him to switch in to otherwise fatal Fighting moves for P2 and slowly force a switch. Brave Bird is there as a powerful STAB, as well as hitting anything that likes trying to counterbalance Feather Dance's effect, Roost is there for recovery, Defog is there to remove hazards should they get too annoying, and Feather Dance is there to reduce Attack (obviously), which sooner or later will force a switch. While I had reservations with using this set as opposed to a more offensive set, I soon found it a better option and more effective as well.
Chansey (F) @ Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Soft-Boiled
- Seismic Toss
- Thunder Wave
- Heal Bell
My team's special wall/cleric; I actually considered putting in Blissey instead of her, but Eviolite boosts her amazing Sp. Def into high heavens, which is much more favorable compared to the luxury of Leftovers recovery. I gave Chansey this EV spread simply so she doesn't get destroyed by anything mixed or Psyshock (lol 5 base Def). With these EVs and Eviolite her Def actually reaches 218, and while it doesn't look impressive, she does have 642 HP. Her set is nothing unusual, with Soft-Boiled acting as the main source of recovery without Leftovers, Seismic Toss as a fantastic way to deal damage to anything that likes setting up in front of Chansey (looking at you Volcarona/Chatot) and Heal Bell to vanquish all those evil status effects. I debated between T-wave and Toxic on her but ultimately stuck with the former as I already have Toxic on P2 and being able to kill many special attackers with T-wave/Seismic Toss is not only funny, but satisfying.
Exploud (M) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Boomburst
- Overheat
- Focus Blast
- Surf
Exploud is this team's special attacker and functions well as one. Exploud's slot used to be a Meloetta, but I changed to him since he offers a wider coverage and has no fear of Ghosts swapping in to Boomburst/FB. Frankly, I'm torn between running a bulky and fast Exploud, opting for the latter because of reliance Smeargle's Sticky Web (which is both a good and bad thing I guess). Boomburst is very standard on Explouds and will destroy anything that doesn't resist it or isn't a dedicated special wall, Overheat is for dealing with Steel types (considering to change it to Fire Blast to ignore the -2 effect), Focus Blast is for Rocks/Steels that resist Boomburst, and Surf is a coverage move to hit Fire types.
Smeargle (F) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spore
- Sticky Web
- Magic Coat
- Stealth Rock
Last up on my team's roster is Smeargle, usually the lead for my team (ironic really). This too is a rather standard set on Smeargle and usually I try to keep Smeargle alive so she can set up again if necessary. Spore is there as a good way to ensure at least another turn of setting up, Sticky Web and Stealth Rock as the only entry hazards I need and Magic Coat to throw back statuses, other hazards and most importantly Taunt.
Threatlist:
Please do note that as I'm rather new, I'm not that good at identifying threats, but here are some I found. If you feel that there are more, do suggest ^^
Naturally, a Normal team's weakness would be Fighting types. For the most part, I don't need to worry about special moves as they are rare on Fighting types, and slower Fighting types can be weakened by Toxic and Feather Dance and then slowly taken out, but these 2 are my biggest concerns. Scarfed Heracross outspeeds my entire team and can take them out with relative ease with Close Combat and M-Medicham's HJK hits extremely hard, even on Staraptor. This means that usually I have to sacrifice 1-2 to be able to take them out, and its even worse when they are both on the same team.
While Dragons are a big concern for many teams, mine can dispose most of them with relative ease thanks to P2 and M-Lopunny, except for these 2. Dragonite is usually seen as a lead; as I start with Smeargle, Lum Berry Dragonites basically get 2 free DDs off and sweeps the rest of my team rather easily, forcing me to have to lead with P2 which hurts quite a bit for the rest of the game since I don't have Sticky Web support. M-Altaria is a problem as well as its extremely tanky and capable of running a mixed set, which is problematic for both P2 and Chansey.
Thanks for reading my first RMT!
