approved by scpinion, OP Stolen from Balto
Welcome to the Monotype Teambuilding concepts thread! I've noticed a lot of people have asked known players for assistance in building, so I figured this would be a nice resource for newer players. Essentially, this thread will contain in depth analyses on the 18 types of monotype, and how to properly play as well as build a team for them. To make sure these types are explained properly, the 18 players chosen will be limited to people who are highly experienced and are known to excel with the type.
The basics of teambuilding:
For inexperienced builders, I'll do a quick run-down of the terms and what they mean, and also what you should be thinking about before you decide to build a team.
Before you build a team, you should have
For those writing, please reference Balto's fairy analysis as example
The basics of teambuilding:
For inexperienced builders, I'll do a quick run-down of the terms and what they mean, and also what you should be thinking about before you decide to build a team.
Before you build a team, you should have
- A type picked. This is fairly easy, just one of of the 18 you feel like using.
- An archetype picked. Archetypes are essentially the playstyle you choose to run with. There are 3 primary archetypes, however they can be broken down further into smaller categories. The 3 primary archetypes are:
- Stall:Almost everything on stall will be considered a 'wall', and have a recovery move. The most defensive you can get in competitive pokemon.
- Offense:Very straightforward. Offense will usually consist of hard-hitting attackers, essentially the opposite of Stall
- Balance: The mix between stall and offense. Balance will consist of a split number of walls and attackers
For those writing, please reference Balto's fairy analysis as example
Due to fairy's lack of pokemon(just emerging in XY)balance is really the only viable playstyle that can be built. When building balanced fairy, I usually begin with a formula of 3 mons. These consist of:
Klefki+Azumarill provides a great start to any fairy team, and Diance(while Gardevoir can be used in it's place as mega)adds additional pressure to flying teams along with a speed tier unmatched among fairy mons. Klefki is a steel resist and a poison immunity, as well as a great support mon to set screens as well as hazards. Azumarill takes advantage of Klefki's role as a belly drummer with priority in aqua jet. This core is extremely threatening between the 18 types, which is what makes a great start.
There are lots of options to pair with these 3, below are the ones that will work best.
Clefable is my favorite out of these options. Because of it's extremely versatile stats and abilities as a rocks setter, a calm mind user, or even an unaware user.
Sylveon is a great addition to fairy in general. Specs will lock in an OHKO vs a huge threat in landorus incarnate, and cleric sylveon can be used to replenish hp on non recovery mons like klefki.
Togekiss is another member that can add a lot to a fairy team. Togekiss can work as a paraflincher, as well as a scarf set. Both sets are able to check Mega Venusaur, another big issue for fairy teams.
Scarf gardevoir brings good speed tier as well as a healing wish user to fairy teams. STAB psychic attacks are also great for extra poison coverage.
Belly drum slurpuff can be a great partner to azumarill by adding more physical presence. Along with that, slurpuff is almost an autowin to normal types.
Unfortunately, whimsicott can also add to fairy teams. Whimsicott can leech seed stall, as well as memento, or even para other mons to put belly drummers in better positions.
At the end of the day the key to a good fairy team is having good chemistry between the pokemon you choose. Make sure the six you choose feed off of eachother.
PS:If you're new to mons, this song will help you learn the fairy types.
Special shoutouts to scpinion for giving us the green light on this project, Sabella for discussing with me, and the man himself pokemonfansuper.
Klefki+Azumarill provides a great start to any fairy team, and Diance(while Gardevoir can be used in it's place as mega)adds additional pressure to flying teams along with a speed tier unmatched among fairy mons. Klefki is a steel resist and a poison immunity, as well as a great support mon to set screens as well as hazards. Azumarill takes advantage of Klefki's role as a belly drummer with priority in aqua jet. This core is extremely threatening between the 18 types, which is what makes a great start.
There are lots of options to pair with these 3, below are the ones that will work best.
Clefable is my favorite out of these options. Because of it's extremely versatile stats and abilities as a rocks setter, a calm mind user, or even an unaware user.
Sylveon is a great addition to fairy in general. Specs will lock in an OHKO vs a huge threat in landorus incarnate, and cleric sylveon can be used to replenish hp on non recovery mons like klefki.
Togekiss is another member that can add a lot to a fairy team. Togekiss can work as a paraflincher, as well as a scarf set. Both sets are able to check Mega Venusaur, another big issue for fairy teams.
Scarf gardevoir brings good speed tier as well as a healing wish user to fairy teams. STAB psychic attacks are also great for extra poison coverage.
Belly drum slurpuff can be a great partner to azumarill by adding more physical presence. Along with that, slurpuff is almost an autowin to normal types.
Unfortunately, whimsicott can also add to fairy teams. Whimsicott can leech seed stall, as well as memento, or even para other mons to put belly drummers in better positions.
At the end of the day the key to a good fairy team is having good chemistry between the pokemon you choose. Make sure the six you choose feed off of eachother.
PS:If you're new to mons, this song will help you learn the fairy types.
Special shoutouts to scpinion for giving us the green light on this project, Sabella for discussing with me, and the man himself pokemonfansuper.
Ok. Dark has 3 main viable playstyles in Monotype; balance, hyper offense, and stall.
Balance: For balance, these are the best mons to start out with
This is the notorious "dark core" that will appear on many balanced dark teams. Mega Sableye helps prevents status and hazards on the team and can cripple any non-fire or non-guts pokemon with will-o-wisp. Tyranitar is generally the "special switch-in" as it has a lot of spdef and the sandstorm it starts multiplies its spdef 1.5x. Ttar also has access to stealth rocks and the best status move in the game thunder wave with access to nice offensive moves as well such as stone edge, fire blast, pursuit, etc. The final mon in the core is the much needed Mandibuzz. Mandibuzz can switch into practically any physical type move (barring some super effective moves like stone edge from Terrakion and that kind of stuff) and roosts it all off or hits the mon with a strong foul play. It also provides defog support for the team if necessary and is just an amazing mon. The rest of these mons are interchangeable and you can use a different one to fit your teams needs.
bold ->These are also the mons used in HO Dark I'll elaborate on that playstyle after.
Super strong pokemon with access to powerful stab moves and is usually scarfed on a dark team as it can outspeed and kill lots of threats to dark.
Nice set up sweeper on dark that has access to knock off, priority, and STAB iron head to hit opposing fairy types. Commonly ran with lum berry so you can set up on a status or life orb to deal more damage.
Incredibly fast revenge killer with helpful ice stab and access to knock off to cripple the opponent's pokemon. Usually ran with life orb to deal the most damage and to be able to switch up the moves it's using.
Nice water stab after greninja's ban and with protect(which it usually runs) can outspeed most of the opposing mons and forces the opponent into mindgames. Usually ran with orb with mixed attacks to hit physical walls as its special stats are still pretty high.
Hydreigon is a nice dark mon with a wide variety in its movepool and decent special attack and speed. Usually a scarfer or life orb to break mons better.
Honchkrow is a very nice mon to run on because of its diverse movepool and strong flying stab along with strong priority. Preferred set on dark is scarf to outspeed fighting mons and other mons and ohko but can be ran with life orb to hit really hard.
Crawdaunt is a super strong hitter with adaptability priority, knock off, and one of the strongest water physical moves. It also has access to boosting moves such as swords dance and is ran with life orb. Puts a dent or can revenge a mon in any team.
This might come off as a surprise because who would actually use cacturne? Well, cacturne has access to the ability "water absorb" and has very high stats in both attacks. Water Absorb helps switch in to things like special keldeo and helps vs water a lot.
Krook is a nice sash rocks lead that could run taunt and rocks on HO with max speed and max attack.
Mega Doom is an underrated mega but still serves some purposes. Can switch in on an opposing will o wisp and gains flash fire while mega'ing the next turn. Has access to strong fire stab and set up moves like Nasty Plot.
Another mega below Sableye. Absol starts out slow but gains very high stats after mega'ing with access to knock off, sucker punch, swords dance, and even play rough to hit opposing dark teams and fighting teams.
Hyper Offense: hyper offense is probably the "least viable" playstyle to use when using dark but usually the most "fun" to use. It usually consists of a bunch of fast or strong pokemon that keep attacking. The one necessary mon for all hyper offense teams is probably sableye(mega OR regular) to absorb priority fighting moves and to make sure the opponent cannot spam one move and win vs you.
Stall:(end bold)Stall is an uncommon but very effective playstyle in dark. Pretty much, you lay up hazards, switch between walls, and heal yourself back up. Dark is able to utilize this because of their very fat mons. In the case of stall, sableye mega might change to "calm mind dark pulse" and ttar might become av 4 attacks to tank most special attacks.
(Note: balance core is obligatory)
Umbreon is an amazing spdef wall that switches in on nearly every special hit ever(barring some super effective hits.) It is also a cleric with access to heal bell and a wish passer as well. Needed for keeping mons without recovery alive. Usually ran with max spdef and max hp.
This might come off as a surprise to some but Drapion is indeed very useful because of its utility and how bulky it is. Drapion doesn't take super effective hits from fairy and has access to moves like taunt and toxic spikes to spread hazards. Usually ran with max spdef and max hp.
Another surprise. Krookodile is the only dark mon(that's viable) with access to intimidate and can set up rocks, taunt, knock off, and has nice eq stab. Usually ran with max defense and max hp.
This took forever to write so thanks to those who read this and got advice from it.~
dank dark
S/Os: Are we supposed to do this? Oh, well. First of all, shoutout to scpinion for letting us do this project to help the community. Shoutout to my boys Rajesh( all falls down ), my favorite lc'er trash , Balto for suggesting the project, and my other mono frens.
Balance: For balance, these are the best mons to start out with
This is the notorious "dark core" that will appear on many balanced dark teams. Mega Sableye helps prevents status and hazards on the team and can cripple any non-fire or non-guts pokemon with will-o-wisp. Tyranitar is generally the "special switch-in" as it has a lot of spdef and the sandstorm it starts multiplies its spdef 1.5x. Ttar also has access to stealth rocks and the best status move in the game thunder wave with access to nice offensive moves as well such as stone edge, fire blast, pursuit, etc. The final mon in the core is the much needed Mandibuzz. Mandibuzz can switch into practically any physical type move (barring some super effective moves like stone edge from Terrakion and that kind of stuff) and roosts it all off or hits the mon with a strong foul play. It also provides defog support for the team if necessary and is just an amazing mon. The rest of these mons are interchangeable and you can use a different one to fit your teams needs.
bold ->These are also the mons used in HO Dark I'll elaborate on that playstyle after.
Super strong pokemon with access to powerful stab moves and is usually scarfed on a dark team as it can outspeed and kill lots of threats to dark.
Nice set up sweeper on dark that has access to knock off, priority, and STAB iron head to hit opposing fairy types. Commonly ran with lum berry so you can set up on a status or life orb to deal more damage.
Incredibly fast revenge killer with helpful ice stab and access to knock off to cripple the opponent's pokemon. Usually ran with life orb to deal the most damage and to be able to switch up the moves it's using.
Nice water stab after greninja's ban and with protect(which it usually runs) can outspeed most of the opposing mons and forces the opponent into mindgames. Usually ran with orb with mixed attacks to hit physical walls as its special stats are still pretty high.
Hydreigon is a nice dark mon with a wide variety in its movepool and decent special attack and speed. Usually a scarfer or life orb to break mons better.
Honchkrow is a very nice mon to run on because of its diverse movepool and strong flying stab along with strong priority. Preferred set on dark is scarf to outspeed fighting mons and other mons and ohko but can be ran with life orb to hit really hard.
Crawdaunt is a super strong hitter with adaptability priority, knock off, and one of the strongest water physical moves. It also has access to boosting moves such as swords dance and is ran with life orb. Puts a dent or can revenge a mon in any team.
This might come off as a surprise because who would actually use cacturne? Well, cacturne has access to the ability "water absorb" and has very high stats in both attacks. Water Absorb helps switch in to things like special keldeo and helps vs water a lot.
Krook is a nice sash rocks lead that could run taunt and rocks on HO with max speed and max attack.
Mega Doom is an underrated mega but still serves some purposes. Can switch in on an opposing will o wisp and gains flash fire while mega'ing the next turn. Has access to strong fire stab and set up moves like Nasty Plot.
Another mega below Sableye. Absol starts out slow but gains very high stats after mega'ing with access to knock off, sucker punch, swords dance, and even play rough to hit opposing dark teams and fighting teams.
Hyper Offense: hyper offense is probably the "least viable" playstyle to use when using dark but usually the most "fun" to use. It usually consists of a bunch of fast or strong pokemon that keep attacking. The one necessary mon for all hyper offense teams is probably sableye(mega OR regular) to absorb priority fighting moves and to make sure the opponent cannot spam one move and win vs you.
Stall:(end bold)Stall is an uncommon but very effective playstyle in dark. Pretty much, you lay up hazards, switch between walls, and heal yourself back up. Dark is able to utilize this because of their very fat mons. In the case of stall, sableye mega might change to "calm mind dark pulse" and ttar might become av 4 attacks to tank most special attacks.
(Note: balance core is obligatory)
Umbreon is an amazing spdef wall that switches in on nearly every special hit ever(barring some super effective hits.) It is also a cleric with access to heal bell and a wish passer as well. Needed for keeping mons without recovery alive. Usually ran with max spdef and max hp.
This might come off as a surprise to some but Drapion is indeed very useful because of its utility and how bulky it is. Drapion doesn't take super effective hits from fairy and has access to moves like taunt and toxic spikes to spread hazards. Usually ran with max spdef and max hp.
Another surprise. Krookodile is the only dark mon(that's viable) with access to intimidate and can set up rocks, taunt, knock off, and has nice eq stab. Usually ran with max defense and max hp.
This took forever to write so thanks to those who read this and got advice from it.~
dank dark
S/Os: Are we supposed to do this? Oh, well. First of all, shoutout to scpinion for letting us do this project to help the community. Shoutout to my boys Rajesh( all falls down ), my favorite lc'er trash , Balto for suggesting the project, and my other mono frens.
Water has always been the most diverse type out of all of the types in that it has three different playstyles that all work very well, which is quite rare in the monotype metagame. These playstyles are Stall/Semi-Stall, Balance, and Hyper Offense. On top of having three different viable playstyles, all of these playstyles have a lot of variations in terms of builds.
We'll start out with Hyper Offense. The obvious playstyle you think of when you say Hyper Offense is Swift Swim, as Water has a tough time with pure Hyper Offense outside of Swift Swim because the only viable Stealth Rock setters (Swampert and Empoleon) are very slow and lose a lot of momentum outside of rain, and Stealth Rock are extremely important in Hyper Offense to ensure OHKOs.
The usual formula for Swift Swim teams is Politoed and 2-3 Swift Swim users to abuse the rain. Any more than 3 Swift Swim users makes you too reliant on rain, and with no Damp Rock this is a really bad idea.
The best set for Politoed is usually defensive with Eject Button and Rest to consistently keep setting rain.
or
or
or
Kabutops is a fantastic offensive hazard remover and physical wallbreaker, Mega Swampert does a good job setting rocks, is an offensive Electric check, and hits very hard in rain. Kingdra is a good mixed wallbreaker with great neutral coverage; Ludicolo has the added bonus of Grass STAB, but it's not as good coverage as Dragon/Water, and it can't go mixed. Life orb is the best item on all of these Pokemon. Again, please don't use all four of these Pokemon, as you will be too reliant on rain.
Whatever you choose out of these options, make sure you have some wallbreakers to have a good answer for Ferrothorn, Mega Venusaur, and Chansey. That can be Superpower Kabutops or Mega Swampert for Chansey and Ferrothorn, or you can have another Pokemon that can get rid of them for you. Some options for this can be
Tail Glow Ice Beam does a huge chunk to Ferrothorn to the point where it can be killed with another Pokemon. HP Fire can also be used, but beware of rain (it still does more than Ice Beam in rain). Tail Glow Surf in rain can also break Chansey. Tail Glow Psychic deals with Venusaur.
Knock Off from Crawdaunt, Secret Sword from Keldeo and Superpower from Azumarill can get rid of Ferrothorn and Chansey easily.
Regular Leftovers + Substitute Bounce Gyarados deals with Venusaur and can sweep Grass teams with ease.
Balanced Water is the most diverse out of the water archetypes; there are dozens of viable combinations of Pokemon.
Almost every balanced Water core starts with an Electric immunity, a Stealth Rock user, and a hazard remover. The most common core for this is usually
This standard defensive core takes care of status (Lanturn's heal bell), hazard removal (Empoleon's Defog), and hazards (Empoleon's Stealth Rock).
Since this core is so weak to Ground-type moves, another Pokemon usually needs to be added to fix this. Examples are
Another Electric immunity + Stealth Rock + hazard removal core is simply
+
or
or
or
Tentacruel doubles as a grass check, Starmie doubles as a Breloom check. Blastoise can work for more offensive teams, but another mega is usually preferred.
On top of all of this, a check for Breloom and Venusaur are still needed, and are even more important here because Balanced Water teams are much slower than Swift Swim teams. Some Pokemon for this are
Amazing defensive typing for Water, Assault Vest, Belly Drum and Choice Band are all great sets to use.
All four of these can deal with Breloom, the latter 3 can deal with Venusaur.
Since the only real requirements for Water teams are an Electric immunity, a hazard user, a hazard remover, and a Grass check, this leaves a lot of room for other cool Pokemon to add diversity to the team.
Does great against Dragon teams with Ice Fang, is a great way to break Psychic teams, can be a good late game sweeper.
Both are very good Dragon Dance sweepers; Gyarados can double as a Ground immunity before it mega evolves and a Grass check, both are good users of Crunch to break down Psychic teams.
Does a good job sweeping Dragon and Flying teams
Can be used as a Mega Pinsir and Excadrill check, or a Choice Scarf Trick user.
Finally, Stall Water is unquestionably the best variant of stall in Monotype, and many types are simply unable to break the core. What makes Stall Water so good is that it can actually have an immunity core for its only two weaknesses, and it is backed by strong hazard removers and clerics.
Stall Water is more one-dimensional than the other two playstyles, but there can still be variation. The basic core for this is usually
+
+
Which gives the immunity core along with hazard removal and Stealth Rocks and Heal Bell.
Since none of these Pokemon have reliable recovery, Wish users are fantastic.
Alomomola is usually preferred due to its sheer bulk.
Aside from this, different Pokemon have their benefits on stall.
Mega Pinsir check, stops set-up sweepers, Belly Drum Azumarill, etc
Can set up Toxic Spikes, alternate hazard removal, Grass check.
Calm mind is a good win condition, Thunder Wave can stop threats
Semi-Stall is a variant of stall that has a wallbreaker to beat other variants of stall and to break annoying cores that would win over the immunity core, along with beating some slower wallbreakers like Kyurem-B and Hoopa-U. Some common wallbreakers for this include
SubCM Keldeo and CM / Tail Glow Manaphy are good win conditions and revenge killers.
This took forever, so I hope it helped!
We'll start out with Hyper Offense. The obvious playstyle you think of when you say Hyper Offense is Swift Swim, as Water has a tough time with pure Hyper Offense outside of Swift Swim because the only viable Stealth Rock setters (Swampert and Empoleon) are very slow and lose a lot of momentum outside of rain, and Stealth Rock are extremely important in Hyper Offense to ensure OHKOs.
The usual formula for Swift Swim teams is Politoed and 2-3 Swift Swim users to abuse the rain. Any more than 3 Swift Swim users makes you too reliant on rain, and with no Damp Rock this is a really bad idea.
The best set for Politoed is usually defensive with Eject Button and Rest to consistently keep setting rain.
Kabutops is a fantastic offensive hazard remover and physical wallbreaker, Mega Swampert does a good job setting rocks, is an offensive Electric check, and hits very hard in rain. Kingdra is a good mixed wallbreaker with great neutral coverage; Ludicolo has the added bonus of Grass STAB, but it's not as good coverage as Dragon/Water, and it can't go mixed. Life orb is the best item on all of these Pokemon. Again, please don't use all four of these Pokemon, as you will be too reliant on rain.
Whatever you choose out of these options, make sure you have some wallbreakers to have a good answer for Ferrothorn, Mega Venusaur, and Chansey. That can be Superpower Kabutops or Mega Swampert for Chansey and Ferrothorn, or you can have another Pokemon that can get rid of them for you. Some options for this can be
Tail Glow Ice Beam does a huge chunk to Ferrothorn to the point where it can be killed with another Pokemon. HP Fire can also be used, but beware of rain (it still does more than Ice Beam in rain). Tail Glow Surf in rain can also break Chansey. Tail Glow Psychic deals with Venusaur.
Knock Off from Crawdaunt, Secret Sword from Keldeo and Superpower from Azumarill can get rid of Ferrothorn and Chansey easily.
Regular Leftovers + Substitute Bounce Gyarados deals with Venusaur and can sweep Grass teams with ease.
Balanced Water is the most diverse out of the water archetypes; there are dozens of viable combinations of Pokemon.
Almost every balanced Water core starts with an Electric immunity, a Stealth Rock user, and a hazard remover. The most common core for this is usually
This standard defensive core takes care of status (Lanturn's heal bell), hazard removal (Empoleon's Defog), and hazards (Empoleon's Stealth Rock).
Since this core is so weak to Ground-type moves, another Pokemon usually needs to be added to fix this. Examples are
Another Electric immunity + Stealth Rock + hazard removal core is simply
Tentacruel doubles as a grass check, Starmie doubles as a Breloom check. Blastoise can work for more offensive teams, but another mega is usually preferred.
On top of all of this, a check for Breloom and Venusaur are still needed, and are even more important here because Balanced Water teams are much slower than Swift Swim teams. Some Pokemon for this are
Amazing defensive typing for Water, Assault Vest, Belly Drum and Choice Band are all great sets to use.
All four of these can deal with Breloom, the latter 3 can deal with Venusaur.
Since the only real requirements for Water teams are an Electric immunity, a hazard user, a hazard remover, and a Grass check, this leaves a lot of room for other cool Pokemon to add diversity to the team.
Does great against Dragon teams with Ice Fang, is a great way to break Psychic teams, can be a good late game sweeper.
Both are very good Dragon Dance sweepers; Gyarados can double as a Ground immunity before it mega evolves and a Grass check, both are good users of Crunch to break down Psychic teams.
Does a good job sweeping Dragon and Flying teams
Can be used as a Mega Pinsir and Excadrill check, or a Choice Scarf Trick user.
Finally, Stall Water is unquestionably the best variant of stall in Monotype, and many types are simply unable to break the core. What makes Stall Water so good is that it can actually have an immunity core for its only two weaknesses, and it is backed by strong hazard removers and clerics.
Stall Water is more one-dimensional than the other two playstyles, but there can still be variation. The basic core for this is usually
Which gives the immunity core along with hazard removal and Stealth Rocks and Heal Bell.
Since none of these Pokemon have reliable recovery, Wish users are fantastic.
Alomomola is usually preferred due to its sheer bulk.
Aside from this, different Pokemon have their benefits on stall.
Mega Pinsir check, stops set-up sweepers, Belly Drum Azumarill, etc
Can set up Toxic Spikes, alternate hazard removal, Grass check.
Semi-Stall is a variant of stall that has a wallbreaker to beat other variants of stall and to break annoying cores that would win over the immunity core, along with beating some slower wallbreakers like Kyurem-B and Hoopa-U. Some common wallbreakers for this include
SubCM Keldeo and CM / Tail Glow Manaphy are good win conditions and revenge killers.
This took forever, so I hope it helped!
Psyshic has 2 viable playstyles being Balance and Hyper Offense
Balance
Usually I start with these 3. Slowbro good physical wall and very good at using t-wave and fishing for burns with scald. Also has reliable recovery with Slack off and has great coverage. Mew one of best stealth rockers on Psychic. Also has access to moves like Wil-o-Wisp and Taunt which help the team. Victini usually a physical scarfer helps with bug teams. On a standard physical based Victini V-create is the first move as hard hitting STAB. U-turn is there to gain momentum. Bolt strike is a good powerful coverage move. Victini on its last slot can run Blue Flare to destroy bug teams or Trick to cripple walls. Victini can also run a band set although it is not as effective as scarf. Special Victini is also a viable option but physical is almost always preferred.
Viable Megas for this playstyle
Super strong with pixlate stab Hyper Voice. Also has very good secondary STAB in Psyshock. Helps a lot vs dark matchup and in general is considered the "best psychic mega" in ORAS. Also has lots of coverage Focus Blast, Thunderbolt, and Energy Ball. Also has support moves such as Taunt,Sub, and Protect are all viable.
Very good Swords Dancer. Has lots of raw power behind it. Stab Close Combat is very powerful. Coverage moves such as knock off and shadow sneak are excellent coverage moves. While also having the elemental punches. You can also run Zen Headbutt as secondary STAB.
Very good wallbreaker. Not many switch ins to this monster's STAB High Jump Kick. With priority from fake out and bullet punch. With powerful coverage of ice punch and optional secondary STAB of Zen Headbutt. Very hard Mon to switch into.
Other Pokemon
Monster wallbreaker and very unpredictable on Psychic teams because of how many sets it can run. Life Orb, Sub Nasty Plot, Choice Ban, Choice Scarf all viable items. Usually a surprise factor in the match
Good way to deal with ghost teams which can be trouble for Psychic. Best with Assault Vest or Choice Specs. This Pokemon is used most to check Aegislash on Ghost teams.
Good Scarfer being able to spam scarf iron head. Also has healing wish to bring back a teammate. U-turn is good to gain momentum.
Solid special attacker. Most often it will carry Life Orb or Choice Specs. It is mostly used for the ability to be an offensive deffoger. Draco Meteor and Psyshock hit very hard.
Good at trapping threats and killing them. Also gets rid of fat walls with by tricking them choice scarf. Also likes setting up Calm Minds on those fat walls with a choice item looked into a non attacking move. Helps trap certain threats to your team
Good way to deal with dark types. Helps on Mega Medicham and Mega Gallade teams for fairy coverage. Has healing wish to bring a teammate back to life. Most often this Pokemon will be Scarf
Very fast psychic type. Viable items are sash to live one hit or Life Orb for the added power it provides. With Magic Guard this Pokemon with always keep its sash intact despite hazards and Life Orb Damage will not be taken.
Can set up stealth rocks and also is famous for using Nasty Plot pass. Tends to help vs swift swim water teams.
Another way to get rid of hazards with rapid spin. Hits threats hard with Analytic that like to switch out. Has good STAB moves in Scald/Hydro Pump/Psyshock and also coverage moves such as Ice Beam and Thunderbolt
Decent assault vest user. Has access to unique moves such as pursuit. Can also run weakness policy agility to become a sweeper.
Hyper Offensive Psychic
The choice is to get up hazards fast or being able to take multiple hits and having access to recover and getting up hazards. Spikes and Stealth Rocks are the hazards that are set up. Also can be screens with them holding light clay making Reflect and Light Screen last 8 turns instead of 5
Very good choice because its very fast and goes very well with the pressure of hazards. Trace can be good if right ability is traced. Also being very threatening with a Calm Mind (boosts Special Defense and Special Attack by 1 Stage) under its belt.
Very good setup sweeper with Sub Nasty Plot also takes advantage of hazards with its offensive presence. Just very threatening with hazards. Has lots of options on psychic which makes it a bit unpredictable
Good scarf or band user also takes advantage of hazards with powerful STAB V-create. With also having powerful bolt strike coverage.
Good offensive spinner. Has lots of power with Life Orb. Has coverage moves such as Thunderbolt and Ice Beam. Also has Psyshock to hit fat special walls hard. Rapid spin is superior way to function on hazards HO because you keep your hazards on the field.
Good nasty plot Baton Pass user to make other team members hit hard. More of a support Mon to help setup sweeps.
Good scarfer with trace to deal with dark types (mostly to deal with CM Mega Sableye). Also has healing Wish that will heal status hp with sacrificing itself. This is also beneficial for avoiding defog as well.
For HO teams that wanna run a different Dual Screener (Reflect and Light Screen) this is a viable option while also having access to stealth rocks. Although the Deoxys-S and D outclass it still has a niche as a decent lead.
Very dangerous setup sweeper takes advantage of hazards or screens. Being able to get important KO's with hazards or being able to set up SD with ease.
Solid special attacker and has a great offensive presence. Very Good on Light Screen Hyper Offensive Teams. Not so good on Hazard Stacking Offense for hazard removal with defog.
Balance
Viable Megas for this playstyle
Other Pokemon
Hyper Offensive Psychic
Fighting isn't really the greatest defensive type so Hyper Offensive is the only viable archetype it can run.
The main 2 mons that in my opinion should be on every successful high ladder fighting team are:
Since fighting is mainly a Hyper Offense type it does require i good amount of in game skill to be able to pull doubles to put your opponents in corners that lead to game winning sweeps. You do sometimes have to play dangerously with fighting which could either leave you up shit creek without a paddle or like I said above, open up the game winning sweep.
s/o to iGlack for not letting me forget lucario and to Balto for asking me to do this.
Infernape is a great SR lead for fighting, as it has access to greta utility moves like taunt and endeavor along with a plethora of coverage moves. It can also double up as a fantastic mixed attacker to wreak havoc against steel and balance flying builds with fighting and fire stabs. (life orb hp ice variants are great lures for lando I, bulk chomp, d nite, gliscor, etc.)
Cobalion is also another fabulous support rocker for fighting. It has above average bulk and access to great utility moves in taunt, thunder wave, and volt switch. It can also have a small offensive niche against fairy with it being able to eat hits and dish out iron heads.
Breloom is generally a focus sash attacker for fighting. It can perform really well against ground and water along with making for a secondary win con with access to Swords Dance. Its access to spore can let fighting gain momentum and really put opponents under pressure. With the sash in the back it can double up as a emergency sweeper stopper for fighting along with access to priority in mach punch.
Mega medicham is the 1st of two viable megas on fighting. with access to pure power mega cham wields massive instant power. Pure power makes moves like high jump kick and any psychic stab extremely difficult to switch into. It also has access to multiple priority options in fake out and bullet punch. bullet punch gives medicham a pretty decent matchup against fairy. Any balance archetype really struggles with medicham due to its sheer power.
Mega Gallade is the 2nd of two viable megas for fighting. While Mega gallade doesn't quite have the raw power medicahm has, it makes up for it with its fantastic speed tier in 110 and access to knock off to give it coverage to hit psychic's and ghosts. Gallade's access to Swords Dance is what makes it such a huge threat. Combined with its speed and coverage, gallade is extremely scary behind an SD.
I wouldn't say hawlucha is a sleeper threat because it has decent usage but I don't think it gets as much credit as it deserves. Along with Terrackion, Hawlucha is a fantastic clean up sweeper for fighting. With the ability Unburden and access to moves like Sky attack, acrobatics, swords dance, and high jump kick, hawlucha is a force to be reckoned with. One mistake by ur opponent and this thing with just train through an opposing team whether it be Sub Sd or Power herb sky attack.
Heracross is probably my favorite mon for fighting. Heracross can be an extremely versatile threat for fighting and can fufill multiple roles for a fightign team and can fufill them all successfully. You can run a Choice banded attacker with guts to lure in sableyes to willo wisp you and pay them back with boosted megahorns. You can run a flame orb/ toxic orb attacker to lure in something like a clefable and hit it with a facade that can be potentially boosted by an SD. Or you can make it anti psychic by slapping a choice scarf on it and stacking moxie boosts. All of those things make hera a fantastic mon on fighting
Lucario isn't the most common mon you see on fighting but it still holds decent viability. Lucario can double up as a special sweeper or a physical sweeper with access to Swords Dance and Nasty Plot. It can make up for its sub par speed with access to priority like E-speed, bullet punch, and vacuum wave. Coverage moves like dark pulse, crunch, earthquake, and ice punch let it get past some of its checks as well.
Conkeldurr is a fantastic bulky attacker for fighting. Conk is the only mon other than heracross that has the ability to absorb willo wisp with its ability in guts. With an added assault vest conk conk can give opposing offensive builds some trouble with its ability to eat up hits and dish out drain punches. Access to knock off and ice punch give it much needed coverage to hit psychic's and dragons.
Since fighting is mainly a Hyper Offense type it does require i good amount of in game skill to be able to pull doubles to put your opponents in corners that lead to game winning sweeps. You do sometimes have to play dangerously with fighting which could either leave you up shit creek without a paddle or like I said above, open up the game winning sweep.
Hope you guys like it!
The main 2 mons that in my opinion should be on every successful high ladder fighting team are:
Since fighting is mainly a Hyper Offense type it does require i good amount of in game skill to be able to pull doubles to put your opponents in corners that lead to game winning sweeps. You do sometimes have to play dangerously with fighting which could either leave you up shit creek without a paddle or like I said above, open up the game winning sweep.
s/o to iGlack for not letting me forget lucario and to Balto for asking me to do this.
Infernape is a great SR lead for fighting, as it has access to greta utility moves like taunt and endeavor along with a plethora of coverage moves. It can also double up as a fantastic mixed attacker to wreak havoc against steel and balance flying builds with fighting and fire stabs. (life orb hp ice variants are great lures for lando I, bulk chomp, d nite, gliscor, etc.)
Cobalion is also another fabulous support rocker for fighting. It has above average bulk and access to great utility moves in taunt, thunder wave, and volt switch. It can also have a small offensive niche against fairy with it being able to eat hits and dish out iron heads.
Breloom is generally a focus sash attacker for fighting. It can perform really well against ground and water along with making for a secondary win con with access to Swords Dance. Its access to spore can let fighting gain momentum and really put opponents under pressure. With the sash in the back it can double up as a emergency sweeper stopper for fighting along with access to priority in mach punch.
Mega medicham is the 1st of two viable megas on fighting. with access to pure power mega cham wields massive instant power. Pure power makes moves like high jump kick and any psychic stab extremely difficult to switch into. It also has access to multiple priority options in fake out and bullet punch. bullet punch gives medicham a pretty decent matchup against fairy. Any balance archetype really struggles with medicham due to its sheer power.
Mega Gallade is the 2nd of two viable megas for fighting. While Mega gallade doesn't quite have the raw power medicahm has, it makes up for it with its fantastic speed tier in 110 and access to knock off to give it coverage to hit psychic's and ghosts. Gallade's access to Swords Dance is what makes it such a huge threat. Combined with its speed and coverage, gallade is extremely scary behind an SD.
I wouldn't say hawlucha is a sleeper threat because it has decent usage but I don't think it gets as much credit as it deserves. Along with Terrackion, Hawlucha is a fantastic clean up sweeper for fighting. With the ability Unburden and access to moves like Sky attack, acrobatics, swords dance, and high jump kick, hawlucha is a force to be reckoned with. One mistake by ur opponent and this thing with just train through an opposing team whether it be Sub Sd or Power herb sky attack.
Heracross is probably my favorite mon for fighting. Heracross can be an extremely versatile threat for fighting and can fufill multiple roles for a fightign team and can fufill them all successfully. You can run a Choice banded attacker with guts to lure in sableyes to willo wisp you and pay them back with boosted megahorns. You can run a flame orb/ toxic orb attacker to lure in something like a clefable and hit it with a facade that can be potentially boosted by an SD. Or you can make it anti psychic by slapping a choice scarf on it and stacking moxie boosts. All of those things make hera a fantastic mon on fighting
Lucario isn't the most common mon you see on fighting but it still holds decent viability. Lucario can double up as a special sweeper or a physical sweeper with access to Swords Dance and Nasty Plot. It can make up for its sub par speed with access to priority like E-speed, bullet punch, and vacuum wave. Coverage moves like dark pulse, crunch, earthquake, and ice punch let it get past some of its checks as well.
Conkeldurr is a fantastic bulky attacker for fighting. Conk is the only mon other than heracross that has the ability to absorb willo wisp with its ability in guts. With an added assault vest conk conk can give opposing offensive builds some trouble with its ability to eat up hits and dish out drain punches. Access to knock off and ice punch give it much needed coverage to hit psychic's and dragons.
Since fighting is mainly a Hyper Offense type it does require i good amount of in game skill to be able to pull doubles to put your opponents in corners that lead to game winning sweeps. You do sometimes have to play dangerously with fighting which could either leave you up shit creek without a paddle or like I said above, open up the game winning sweep.
Hope you guys like it!
Since the Smooth Rock ban Ground has become a average type with few play styles and little variation in builds due to change in the meta-game. The commonly seen playstyles used by Ground are Balance, Hyper Offense, and Bulky Offense.
The most commonly seen one, Bulky Offense, is seen more than others due to it fitting well with the necessary defense core of Hippowdon and a Water Absorber, usually Gastrodon in this case along with the usual staple on Ground, Excadrill.
Hyper Offense is also seen a lot on Ground with the risen usage of Seismitoad over Gastrodon and the way it complements wallbreaking potential provided by Excadrill and friends. This playstyle starts off mostly the same as the others, lead Hippowdon set Stealth Rocks sac something send in Excadrill lure whatever walls it double to a wallbreaker then rinse and repeat until a sweep is guaranteed.
Whichever playstyle you choose make sure that you have the necessary team support to complement it and the following: Hippowdon, Excadrill, and a Water check. It's also good to ensure that your team has decent answers for threats such as Mega-Gyarados, Charizard-Mega-Y, Serperior, Sharpedo-Mega, and Keldeo. Here are some great options to build around depending on your chosen playstyle.
In General
Provides excellent support with sash breaking stealth rock and sand support, also provides a much needed physical wall.
Excellent sweeper and revenge killer with great coverage and is commonly a stable on Ground.
An incredibly versatile mon that can be used to fill many different roles but is commonly used as a special sweeper.
An outstanding wallbreaker with impressive attacking stats and a decent speed tier allowing it to complement many different playstyles.
A Water check more suited to offense with higher attacking stats and is commonly seen as a bulky specs user.
Scarf, Moxie, helps against Psychic, not much to say.
Bulky Offense
Powerful but slow slightly bulky special wallbreaker.
Slower bulkier version of Seismitoad, better suited to Balance.
The most commonly seen one, Bulky Offense, is seen more than others due to it fitting well with the necessary defense core of Hippowdon and a Water Absorber, usually Gastrodon in this case along with the usual staple on Ground, Excadrill.
Hyper Offense is also seen a lot on Ground with the risen usage of Seismitoad over Gastrodon and the way it complements wallbreaking potential provided by Excadrill and friends. This playstyle starts off mostly the same as the others, lead Hippowdon set Stealth Rocks sac something send in Excadrill lure whatever walls it double to a wallbreaker then rinse and repeat until a sweep is guaranteed.
Whichever playstyle you choose make sure that you have the necessary team support to complement it and the following: Hippowdon, Excadrill, and a Water check. It's also good to ensure that your team has decent answers for threats such as Mega-Gyarados, Charizard-Mega-Y, Serperior, Sharpedo-Mega, and Keldeo. Here are some great options to build around depending on your chosen playstyle.
In General
Provides excellent support with sash breaking stealth rock and sand support, also provides a much needed physical wall.
Excellent sweeper and revenge killer with great coverage and is commonly a stable on Ground.
An incredibly versatile mon that can be used to fill many different roles but is commonly used as a special sweeper.
An outstanding wallbreaker with impressive attacking stats and a decent speed tier allowing it to complement many different playstyles.
A Water check more suited to offense with higher attacking stats and is commonly seen as a bulky specs user.
Scarf, Moxie, helps against Psychic, not much to say.
Bulky Offense
Powerful but slow slightly bulky special wallbreaker.
Slower bulkier version of Seismitoad, better suited to Balance.
Flying is one of the few types where all three playstyles are viable, and relatively easy to use. Most Flying teams consist of a 2 Pokemon core, Skarmory and Zapdos. They both have decent bulk, and good movepool, so they can be tailored depending on the playstyle.
Balance
On balanced teams, Skarmory generally sets rocks, while Zapdos defogs. They cover each other nicely, Skarmory takes physical Ice and Rock moves with ease, while Zapdos covers Skarmory’s weak Special Defense. It also provides a valuable neutrality to Electric moves. This core is able to wall a lot of types with ease.
Here are some mons that work well with the core above.
Togekiss is my personal favorite. One of the core’s weakness is Dragon + Fire Blast spam (Garchomp), and strong special attackers (such as Specs Keldeo and LO Latios). Togekiss is able to tank it all fairly well while providing Heal Bell support. It also gets Thunder Wave for speed control, and Air Slash just for general annoyance. Another option is a Scarf set, it allows Togekiss to cripple common switch ins like Chansey who also threaten the Flying core.
Landorus-T is another good mon, it reduces the amount of pressure on Skarmory (Intimidate and decent bulk), and it has Stealth Rock, so you can run Spikes on Skarmory. A Choice Scarf set makes it a good check to Electric teams because of its immunity, and STAB Earthquake. U-turn allows it to threaten out Physics and scout. However, it is very weak to HP Ice.
Lando-I is an excellent special attacker. A combo of Earth Power and Focus Blast dismantles Steel teams, and Sludge Wave and Psychic let it beat Fairies and Mega Venusaur.
Dragonite is another option as well. Flying types generally lack priority, but Dragonite has a good one in the form of Extremespeed. Band gives Dragonite a ton of power, but at the cost of being locked into a move (Outrage). Another option is a Dragon Dance set, it’s a good set, but preserving Multiscale is important.
Tornadus-T has a good balance between offense and defense if wearing an AV, and its high speed paired with U-turn and Regenerator make it pretty annoying to face. Its main STAB Hurricane isn’t that reliable because of its shaky accuracy, but it has good coverage moves in the form of Focus Blast, Heat Wave, and Knock Off. A LO set is also an option because of Regenerator, and without an AV, it can use Taunt, and deal a lot of damage to Heatran with Superpower.
Thundurus-I has a high base speed, and good base attack. Prankster Thunder Wave is good for paralyzing threats, and Taunt effectively shuts down passive walls, letting you boost with Nasty Plot. Thundurus also has the moves it needs to be good, Thunderbolt and HP Ice has great coverage, and Grass Knot, Focus Blast and Psychic make good coverage
Mandibuzz is another option for Defog even though it doesn’t have Zapdos’s typing, it has better mixed bulk, and access to moves such as Taunt and Foul Play.
Gliscor is generally seen more on Stall teams, but a Swords Dance set is excellent for teams that have trouble beating Mega Sableye and Fairies.
The Megas
Gyarados is interesting, once it mega evolves, it loses its 4x weakness to Electric, 2x weakness to Rock, and it gains a resistance to Ice moves and it gains a boost on its special side making it easier to set up. Its Dark typing and Crunch allows it to sweep Physic monos with ease if you find a time to set up a Dragon Dance. Substitute and Taunt make it easier, if you can find passive mons to set up on. Gyarados also gets Earthquake to hit Rotom-W (Mold Breaker), and Ice Fang to 1HKO Dragonite at full health. Normal Gyarados with Bounce is also viable if you struggle against Fighting Monotypes.
Charizard-Y is a great wallbreaker. Drought, and a 159 base special attack makes sure anything that isn’t named Chansey is 1-2HKOed. Solarbeam beats Water types, and Focus Blast kills Tyranitar.
Stall
Not as common as Balance, but still just as viable. The mons are almost the same, but sets may be a bit different. Almost everything has recovery, and it relies on status and hazards to net kills. Skarmory and Zapdos sets stay the same.
Togekiss is the same as balance, but it’ll be a Heal Bell set, not a scarf set.
Tornadus-T will be an AV pivot. (Same as above)
(Normal) Gyarados is generally a status absorber and shuffler (great Keldeo + Mega Sab counter!). Intimidate lowers attack, and it has a good typing. Scald burns switch ins, Thunder Wave cripples fast mons, Dragon Tail shuffles (Roar is another option), and Rest heals back your HP. Sleep Talk is also an option, but you have to give something up
Articuno is another option if you’re looking for special walls. Haze removes buffs, and it has access to Heal Bell. Freeze Dry also damages Water types, and Toxic puts things on a timer. However, you must be very careful as it is 4x weak to SR.
Gliscor is an amazing mon because of Toxic Heal. It is seen on both Balance and Stall but more on defensive teams. Gliscor is generally a stallbreaker, effectively breaking mons like Chansey, and Skarmory. However, another set would be a Swords Dance set if you struggle with Mega Sab.
Mandibuzz is the same as balanced, it eases pressure on Skarmory, and threatens physical setup sweepers.
Both megas are good if you’re running a semi-stall team, but a full stall team doesn’t need a mega since the best Stall megas are banned. (Mega Altaria and Charizard-X :c )
Hyper Offensive
Some HO teams have the Flying core while others don’t, but sets will be different. This is the hardest playstyle for Flying teams imo, since it’ll be hard to keep rocks off the field without losing momentum.
Zapdos is here for emergency Defog, but some teams don’t even carry it. However, Zapdos can gain momentum by Baton Passing Subs or Volt Switch. HO Flying generally has trouble against Ferrothorn (If you’re not running Lando-I), but Zapdos has access to Heat Wave.
Skarmory is generally used as a suicide Custap lead. Apply as many hazards as possible before Brave Birding yourself to death for momentum. However, some teams have Aerodactyl for this because of its fast speed and a fast Taunt.
(Normal) Aerodactyl is used as an alternate suicide lead. It only gets Stealth Rock, but chances are they’re going to stay because of its base 130 speed. Stone Edge, and Earthquake provide good coverage, and they hit decently hard.
Archeops is another suicide lead, it has a decent base speed (110), access to Taunt, Endeavor, and a stronger suicide move (Head Smash). Good choice if you want momentum, but a faster mon than Skarmory.
Mega Aerodactyl is used as a Hone Claws sweeper. It’s one of the fastest Pokemon (tied with Mega Alakazam) so it’s bound to go first. Ariel Ace is good STAB and is boosted by Tough Claws but after a Hone Claws boost, Stone Edge is a better choice.
Thundurus-T used to be good on balance teams, but the return of Zapdos, and Thundurus-I’s speed + Prankster has cut down its viability. However, it’s good on HO teams with a Scarf. Fast Volt switches, and a switch in to Thunderbolt / T-wave make it a decent choice. It has the same attacks as Thundurus-I but you need to be careful as you are move locked.
Landorus-T is the same as balance, but bulky sets aren’t used. Double Dance sets are common here as well. (Swords Dance + Agility).
Landorus-I is the same as balance.
Staraptor (<3) is used as a fast Brave Bird spammer, and an answer to Electric monos. Reckless Brave Bird hurts, and Electric types are generally Specially Defensive so a Double Edge will hurt.
Tornadus-T is the same as balance, but LO sets are more common.
Togekiss is the same as balance, but only Scarf sets.
Honchkrow is an interesting choice. It’s slow compared to everything else, but it has a priority in the form of Sucker Punch, and Brave Bird hurts like crazy. It also has Heat Wave and Superpower for Steel types, and Moxie makes it very hard for your opp to stop it once it gets a boost or two.
The 2 general Megas are good, and can be used successfully, however, Gyarados is generally the better choice because of its resistance to Ice and access to a set up move. Mega Aerodactyl is also good here.
Balance
Here are some mons that work well with the core above.
The Megas
Stall
Not as common as Balance, but still just as viable. The mons are almost the same, but sets may be a bit different. Almost everything has recovery, and it relies on status and hazards to net kills. Skarmory and Zapdos sets stay the same.
Hyper Offensive
Some HO teams have the Flying core while others don’t, but sets will be different. This is the hardest playstyle for Flying teams imo, since it’ll be hard to keep rocks off the field without losing momentum.
Ice is probably one of the hardest types to pick up, with the worst defensive typing in the game. This is very difficult to get the hang of immediately without a great deal of practice. To be honest, you'll probably even lose more than you'll win for a while, but if you are able to figure out how to use Ice properly, its very rewarding in my opinion. There are 2 viable playstyles to ice, Offensive, and Balanced. Before I get to that though, there are 2 mons that are pretty obligatory to have on every Ice team, and these guys will usually insure the most success for you.
These 2 guys are immensely invaluable, their roles on Ice Teams give you a much more incredible chance to thrive in this metagame. Kyurem majority of the time will act as your Scarfer/Late Game Sweeper, or will be a Mixed Wallbreaker. It's great offenses allow it to thrive excellently. Avalugg on the other hand may not seem like much at first, but its Defense is godsent, and on top of that, it has access to Rapid Spin! (all Ice Mons bar Piloswine and Mamoswine are weak to SR, this is a must on every team!)
Anyways, Offensive. This is the playstyle I tend to use most, taking advantage of the fact that, coverage wise, its great offensively (seriously HP Ice is used on nearly every Special Attacker for a great reason), and it kinda semi-forgos the fact that defensively, its cruddy.
First I decide on which Mega I want to use, or simply use a Megaless team (this is completely viable since these guys are pretty situational). Mega Abomasnow is great for setting Hail (which means its easy to break sashes w/o SR, and you can spam oerfect accuracy Blizzards!), and it does great against Water Teams, with Giga Drain taking advantage of its decent bulk (since it'll more than likely take a hit before dishing damage), and have a way to recover a bit of lost health. Mega Glalie on the other hand is a fantastic Physical Wallbreaker on its own, Double Edge/Frustration dealing massive damage thanks to Refrigerate. Lastly, Explosion is amazing for breaking the toughest of Physical Walls, having a chance to KO Ferrothorn, Porygon2, and 2KO many defensive threats that resist it. (Fun fact: Explosion gains a base power of 325 after Refrigerate....that's not even counting STAB!). This can be very vital to making matchups a lot easier, and allows you to threaten any switchins.
Next I choose a fire resistant mon. Thanks to Thick Fat, these guys are not neutral to Fire Attacks, which is very handy since that's commonly used as coverage. Walrein is typically ran as a Choice Specs sets, however, AV is also excellent. Piloswine on the other hand is usually a Mixed/Special Defensive Tank. Both of these have some key differences though. Walrein can double as a Scizor check (almost always required, Scizor severly threatens Ice), and Piloswine is able to be your SR setter, and check Mega Charizard Y and Volcarona (that have Giga Drain at least) namely. Both are amazing assets.
Along with Piloswine above, these guys are great SR setters for this playstyle. Mamo can function as a great suicide lead thanks to Endevour. It also has access to EQ, which is a great STAB for Fire and Steel especially, and utility in Knock Off. Ice Shard is also extremely handy for priority. You can also run icicle Spear/Icicle Crash if you have room as a general Ice STAB. Superpower is also great for brekaing the Normal Core, which can be excruciating to go against period. Aurorus on the other hand may sound strange, but in this playstyle can work brilliantly if used right. Like Abomasnow, it can set Hail, but it can also cripple fast threats with Thunder Wave. To top it off, Encore, great for using against opposing leads and set up sweepers alike. This gives you a free chance to plan your next course of action in a battle.
As I hinted above, Scizor checks are very handy. These are the 3 best ones, primarily because they are neutral to Steel attacks, namely Bullet Punch (and HP Fire will alnmost OHKO depending on the set). Walrein I mentioned above, but Lapras is by no means outclassed, at all! It's a great threat to Water Teams, with Water Absorb and Freeze Dry (this also includes being threatening Choiced Keldeo). Rotom is also very good, but it is recommended to pair it with a Hail Setter. It has access to Will-O-Wisp, which is awesome utility for all Physical Attackers alike. It also can great momentum with Volt-Switch, which can be rather handy. Other notable attacks to mention worth using are Thunder Wave, Thunderbolt, Foul Play, and Pain Split.
These guys are great fast attackers, but, they're namely used in general to alleviate the Psychic Matchup. Weavile is a great fast Physical Sweeper--with access to Knock Off, Low Kick, and even Pursuit, its no wonder why its so reliable. Froslass on the other hand is much different. Besides the fact its a much better Special Attacker, it can act as a Fighting Immunity. The sets ran on it are typically either Sashed Anti-Lead, or Choice Specs Sweeper; do not underestimate it, its a very useful tool to have on any Ice Team.
Balanced in a sense is similar to Offensive, however it'll usually have an additional Wall or two to make for safer switchins.
Both these guys are rather reliable walls, Articuno acting as a Fighting neutral (not to mention it can hit them back hard with STAB Hurricane) and Defogger, and Rotom was mentioned in detail above.
Ice as a whole is a very challenge type, but can be rewarding if you are able to get the right grasp on how to use it. As a final note, you'll probably lose almost all the time to Fighting and Steel, while Psychic, Fire, and Normal can be fairly difficult, however much more possible to do. Definitely have patience, because you will need it especially in a competitive environment such as Tournaments or Laddering. Granted, this is only a general guide with a little taste of what mons to use, there are other options you can look into, but I hope this helps you guys into getting into a unique type like this. Shoutouts to Balto for allowing me to resume this project, and scpinion for letting me make the thread/being an awesome RO and friend!
These 2 guys are immensely invaluable, their roles on Ice Teams give you a much more incredible chance to thrive in this metagame. Kyurem majority of the time will act as your Scarfer/Late Game Sweeper, or will be a Mixed Wallbreaker. It's great offenses allow it to thrive excellently. Avalugg on the other hand may not seem like much at first, but its Defense is godsent, and on top of that, it has access to Rapid Spin! (all Ice Mons bar Piloswine and Mamoswine are weak to SR, this is a must on every team!)
Anyways, Offensive. This is the playstyle I tend to use most, taking advantage of the fact that, coverage wise, its great offensively (seriously HP Ice is used on nearly every Special Attacker for a great reason), and it kinda semi-forgos the fact that defensively, its cruddy.
First I decide on which Mega I want to use, or simply use a Megaless team (this is completely viable since these guys are pretty situational). Mega Abomasnow is great for setting Hail (which means its easy to break sashes w/o SR, and you can spam oerfect accuracy Blizzards!), and it does great against Water Teams, with Giga Drain taking advantage of its decent bulk (since it'll more than likely take a hit before dishing damage), and have a way to recover a bit of lost health. Mega Glalie on the other hand is a fantastic Physical Wallbreaker on its own, Double Edge/Frustration dealing massive damage thanks to Refrigerate. Lastly, Explosion is amazing for breaking the toughest of Physical Walls, having a chance to KO Ferrothorn, Porygon2, and 2KO many defensive threats that resist it. (Fun fact: Explosion gains a base power of 325 after Refrigerate....that's not even counting STAB!). This can be very vital to making matchups a lot easier, and allows you to threaten any switchins.
Next I choose a fire resistant mon. Thanks to Thick Fat, these guys are not neutral to Fire Attacks, which is very handy since that's commonly used as coverage. Walrein is typically ran as a Choice Specs sets, however, AV is also excellent. Piloswine on the other hand is usually a Mixed/Special Defensive Tank. Both of these have some key differences though. Walrein can double as a Scizor check (almost always required, Scizor severly threatens Ice), and Piloswine is able to be your SR setter, and check Mega Charizard Y and Volcarona (that have Giga Drain at least) namely. Both are amazing assets.
Along with Piloswine above, these guys are great SR setters for this playstyle. Mamo can function as a great suicide lead thanks to Endevour. It also has access to EQ, which is a great STAB for Fire and Steel especially, and utility in Knock Off. Ice Shard is also extremely handy for priority. You can also run icicle Spear/Icicle Crash if you have room as a general Ice STAB. Superpower is also great for brekaing the Normal Core, which can be excruciating to go against period. Aurorus on the other hand may sound strange, but in this playstyle can work brilliantly if used right. Like Abomasnow, it can set Hail, but it can also cripple fast threats with Thunder Wave. To top it off, Encore, great for using against opposing leads and set up sweepers alike. This gives you a free chance to plan your next course of action in a battle.
As I hinted above, Scizor checks are very handy. These are the 3 best ones, primarily because they are neutral to Steel attacks, namely Bullet Punch (and HP Fire will alnmost OHKO depending on the set). Walrein I mentioned above, but Lapras is by no means outclassed, at all! It's a great threat to Water Teams, with Water Absorb and Freeze Dry (this also includes being threatening Choiced Keldeo). Rotom is also very good, but it is recommended to pair it with a Hail Setter. It has access to Will-O-Wisp, which is awesome utility for all Physical Attackers alike. It also can great momentum with Volt-Switch, which can be rather handy. Other notable attacks to mention worth using are Thunder Wave, Thunderbolt, Foul Play, and Pain Split.
These guys are great fast attackers, but, they're namely used in general to alleviate the Psychic Matchup. Weavile is a great fast Physical Sweeper--with access to Knock Off, Low Kick, and even Pursuit, its no wonder why its so reliable. Froslass on the other hand is much different. Besides the fact its a much better Special Attacker, it can act as a Fighting Immunity. The sets ran on it are typically either Sashed Anti-Lead, or Choice Specs Sweeper; do not underestimate it, its a very useful tool to have on any Ice Team.
Balanced in a sense is similar to Offensive, however it'll usually have an additional Wall or two to make for safer switchins.
Both these guys are rather reliable walls, Articuno acting as a Fighting neutral (not to mention it can hit them back hard with STAB Hurricane) and Defogger, and Rotom was mentioned in detail above.
Ice as a whole is a very challenge type, but can be rewarding if you are able to get the right grasp on how to use it. As a final note, you'll probably lose almost all the time to Fighting and Steel, while Psychic, Fire, and Normal can be fairly difficult, however much more possible to do. Definitely have patience, because you will need it especially in a competitive environment such as Tournaments or Laddering. Granted, this is only a general guide with a little taste of what mons to use, there are other options you can look into, but I hope this helps you guys into getting into a unique type like this. Shoutouts to Balto for allowing me to resume this project, and scpinion for letting me make the thread/being an awesome RO and friend!
While Fire is an amazing type offensively, thanks to sun, and a huge variety of sweepers, and mixed attackers, it lacks a lot on the defensive part. This leaves Fire to be run as Hyper Offense and "Balanced" or "Offensive." Most Mons on this list will be put on the "Hyper Offensive" list.
Hyper Offense
This is pretty much the prime time life line wall breaker for fire. It sets sun, which is amazing to reduce water type attacks, and power fire type moves. Drought powers up it's team mates Fire attacks to immense levels. It's immense wall breaking power and 159 base special attack combined Drought hurts even things that resist it, and has good coverage thanks to Solarbeam to hit Water and Ground mons and Focus Blast to hit Rock and Steel mons. Longevity with Roost, and support with Defog make Charizard Mega Y a staple for Fire.
Whenever I build a Fire team, this Pokemon has to go on it. Infernape helps out a lot thanks to it's 108 speed tier being one of the fastest Fire type Pokemon, and both of it's 104 Attack and Special Attack. Infernape can effectively utilize a Choice Banded full physical set, with dual stabs, Thunder Punch or U-Turn. It can also Utilize a Life Orb Physical Set, and even a Life Orb Mixed set. It's unique movepool combined with a Life orb allows it to hit and kill some really big annoyances for Fire including Garchomp Via Hidden Power Ice, Tyranitar and Rock monotypes naturally, Slowbro, Gastrodon, Hippowdon via Grass Knot, Gunk Shot for Fairys, and so much more. Infernape can also take a special niche as a Lead Stealth Rock setter, with Taunt and Endeavor to ensure fast hazards and lower a Pokemon's hp.
Victini is just like Infernape as it has an amazing movepool, and well rounded stats with 100 across every board. It can utilize a Choice Band set, Choice Specs, Physical or Special Choice Scarf, Life Orb, or Assault Vest. It has a unique movepool that consists of V-Create, Blue Flare, U-Turn, Final Gambit, Dazzling Gleam, Glaciate, Focus Blast, Zen Headbutt, Bolt Strike, Energy Ball, Trick, Psyshock, Psychic, and Brick Break.
Darmanitan has a really massive 140 Physical Attack backed by Sheer Force, but lacks a little bit in speed forcing a standard Choice Scarf set to be run by it. U-Turn is run for initiative, and it has coverage in the form of EdgeQuake.
Entei has good Attack and Speed and a good movepool as well. a Choice Banded or Life Orb set with Sacred Fire Stab, and Extreme speed dents a number of teams and provides good priority. Has coverage moves such as Stone Edge, Iron Head, and Bulldoze.
Rotom finds a good role as a Choice Scarf attacker with nice Special Attack and decent speed with the scarf. Typing helps it as it is good for switching in to Electric attacks such as a Thundurus' Thunderbolt. Commonly run with Hidden Power Ice as a Dragon Check, and runs Thunderbolt or Volt Switch for initiative.
Amazing Special Attack and Defense, Speed, and Decent HP, combined with Quiver Dance make Volcarona a threat to fight against. Can be offensive Quiver Dance or Defensive Quiver Dance. Good coverage moves include Roost, Giga Drain, Hidden Power Ground, Bug Buzz, Psychic, and Fire Blast/Firey Dance.
Chandelure is an amazing Pokemon thanks to Ghost typing and has a good Special Attack stat. Can be run with a Choice Scarf, and Trick, Dual Ghost Fire Stab, and Hidden Power Ice or Energy Ball as the last slot. Can also be offensive sub calm mind Chandelure too for wall breaking and set up late game sweeping.
Arcanine has the same Attack as Entei, but lacks a little bit in speed. It makes up for it in some coverage moves. Can be run with a Choice Band or a Life Orb. Flare Blitz Stab, Crunch for Psychic and Ghost coverage, Wild Charge for Electric Coverage, Extreme Speed for Priority, and Close Combat for Heatran.
Houndoom Mega is more run with Ninetales on Fire Teams, and works well due to Solar Power and a huge Special Attack and Speed Stat. Boasts Nasty Plot for more special attack, Dual Stabs, and for a coverage move can hold Sludge Bomb, Hidden Power Ground, or Solarbeam.
Fletchinder takes the role of "Talonflame Jr." thanks to Priority Flying Moves in the Form of Gale Wings. Acrobatics and Swords Dance can hurt a lot of teams if played right. It also has the potential to run eviolite too, but loses out on base 110 no item Acrobatics. It's main function besides priority is helping out fire in Priority Tailwind, giving Fire Mons some extra speed for 4 turns.
Heatran can run a surprise Choice Scarf set, and has amazing Special Attack and Special Defense. It also acts as a "Diancie Mega Check" since Fire has a hard time against it.
"Balance"(Labeling it Balance cause Fire's not the best Defensive Typing)
Torkoal acts as one of Fire's main(and long forgotten) Physical Wall. It can pretty much live any-hit that isn't Rock, Ground, or Water Stab. It's access to Stealth Rock and Rapid spin make it good for getting rocks on and off the field, and Yawn can shuffle Pokemon and potentially put one to sleep.
Rotom-Heat can act as a Defensive Screens setter, providing set up sweepers on Fire some extra Defenses. It's access to Reflect, Light Screen, and Will-O-Wisp, combined with a Slow Volt Switch make it a good Pokemon for defensive fire.
Ninetales role in ORAS is reduced to Specially Defensive Orientated Fire support. It's good Special Defense and HP allow it to tank hits, and access to pain split allow for some HP gain. Heat rock increases Sun turns to 8, making it a good partner for Mega Houndoom.
Heatrans amazing HP and Special Defense make it Fire's best Special Wall. Access to Toxic cripples special walls, and stealth rock sets rocks. Taunt can stall break, and generally it has coverage moves being lava plume or earth power. Air Balloon or Leftovers can be run on this thing.
Arcanine can function as a decent Physical Wall thanks to Intimidate, decent HP and Defense, and access to Morning sun and Will-O-Wisp for recovery and crippling. Extreme speed and Flare Blitz are all just for Damage.
Hyper Offense
This is pretty much the prime time life line wall breaker for fire. It sets sun, which is amazing to reduce water type attacks, and power fire type moves. Drought powers up it's team mates Fire attacks to immense levels. It's immense wall breaking power and 159 base special attack combined Drought hurts even things that resist it, and has good coverage thanks to Solarbeam to hit Water and Ground mons and Focus Blast to hit Rock and Steel mons. Longevity with Roost, and support with Defog make Charizard Mega Y a staple for Fire.
"Balance"(Labeling it Balance cause Fire's not the best Defensive Typing)
Torkoal acts as one of Fire's main(and long forgotten) Physical Wall. It can pretty much live any-hit that isn't Rock, Ground, or Water Stab. It's access to Stealth Rock and Rapid spin make it good for getting rocks on and off the field, and Yawn can shuffle Pokemon and potentially put one to sleep.
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