Monotype Type Analysis

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Snaquaza

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Type Analysis!

Welcome to Type Analysis. This project will be centered around the Monotype metagame and will last eighteen weeks. Each week we'll discuss a certain type. While the discussion can be based around pretty much anything, these are some questions that could be answered if you're looking for ideas. At the end of each discussion, we'll make a summary of what has been said and update it to the OP. At the end of each discussion, we'll make a summary of what has been said and update it to the OP. At the end of each discussion, we'll make a summary of what has been said and update it to the OP.
  • Which types does this type have a disadvantage against?
  • Which types does this type have an advantage against?
  • Which Pokemon help cover the type's weaknesses?
  • What plays can you make to win against threats to your team of this type?
  • What sets can be run to check certain threats?
  • What different EV spreads are used to help against certain types/Pokemon?
  • How does this type fare in the Monotype metagame?
 
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Snaquaza

KACAW
is a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Media Contributor Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnus

The first type will be the Flying type! It's often said to be one of the best Monotypes in the game. Though it's also common to hear that it's easy to use but hard to master. The Flying type is very variable and has a lot of viable and good Pokemon. It can cover its weaknesses, but is still weak to a few Pokemon, how does it play out?

More might come later, but wanted to start asap!
 
Wellp, i'm a well seasoned Flying Leader, won numerous tours and have been playing monotype for a long time so i think my insights should be credible even though i'm just a 17 year old kid haha. All the pasted sets come from my teams. Oh and i am typing this in chrome and every other word is read as a typo, so i am not gonna be too keen on spelling so sorry about that in advance.

First off this is my main team:

I'mBobbyB*tch (Skarmory) (F) @ Rocky Helmet (female for rivalry pyroar which enables me to sponge specs or scarf hypervoices as it hits through articuno's sub)
Ability: Sturdy
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def
Bold Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Roost
- Defog
- Whirlwind

Frosted Flakes (Articuno) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 188 SpD / 68 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 29 HP
- Freeze-Dry
- Toxic
- Substitute
- Roost

Doggystyle (Landorus-Therian) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- U-turn
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Stone Edge

ShockMeHarder (Thundurus-Therian) @ Life Orb
Ability: Volt Absorb
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Focus Blast
- Grass Knot
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Fire]

KFC (Moltres) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 8 SpD / 248 Spe
Modest Nature
- Flamethrower
- Overheat
- Hurricane
- Hidden Power [Ground] (great for heatran switches)

CharminUltraSoft (Altaria) (F) @ Altarianite
Ability: Natural Cure
Shiny: Yes
Happiness: 0
EVs: 244 Atk / 12 SpA / 252 Spe
Lonely Nature
- Fire Blast
- Earthquake
- Dragon Dance
- Frustration


  • Which types does this type have a disadvantage against?
Well I've noticed that steel, fire, and psychic teams mainly pose the biggest threat to flying types.

My Gym team has undergone at least 7 major renovations just to try and compensate for them.

*STEEL*

Klefki, heatran, and bisharp are the biggest threats on the steel side. Thunderwave reflect and light screen really screw over monoflying as really thundurus-T, landorus-t, unevolved altaria, xatu, and zapdos are the most viable checks against it. Landorus is kind of difficult to switch in on steel teams if they have bisharp laying in the back. just because the defiant gives bisharp a 2hko on you. If you go for the eq they will die but you're fodder for metagross, and if skarmory is dead then it may be somewhat problematic as knock off hits pretty hard. Altaria isnt hit hard by knock off however i run Lonely not a +speed naturs so jolly bisharp can still outspeed and ohko it with iron head. however thundurus-t, skarm, and motlres can kill it, it can still pose a big threat. Heatran can be troublesome as the rocks are a prob. I don't run double defog just because skarmory normally doesnt die as i have its two weaknesses covered. Heatran can be checked by breaking the balloon with u-turn and then bringing in a poke with a ground attack. will-o-wisp and lava plume pose threats to the physical attackers so i normally switched into xatu when i ran it to take the rocks or whatever move and hit back with a timix hp ground however when it's will-o-wisp it is screwed as the flash fire lets heatran ohko. (that's why i brought moltres but rocks still psoe a threat) i might change set to hurricane, fire blast, roost, and hp ground. We have no talonflame so will-o-is a problem. Megagross is still covered by lando+skarm as i can u-turn into skarm to take the ice punch adn get the rocky helm. and just whirlwind it back in as it switches out (or something else). or just fire off EQ right away if i feel comfortable enough as it is still capable of living an adamant +252 eq from max.

*notes*
ArVaDa once managed to beat me, he won with his BellyZardX (though his ev spread is secret) it definitely isnt max attack or speed, it was most likely calculated to work against common sets and be able to setup BD along with flame charge. (Dragon claw adn eq remained in teh last two slots). That set is pretty dangerous and enables a safe check to Heatran however you would have to EQ right away as the earth power can hit relatively hard and leave you fodder for bisharp. I really like that set and although i am not using it, i definitely would consider it if i wasnt running M-Taria and Moltres. Perhaps fool around with spreads and see what it's capable of doing.

*FIRE*

Victini victini Victini. First of sun boosted 100% accuracy fire blast isnt pretty against anything, and scarf landorus is outsped by a scarfed one. i pretty much have to bait it into using v-create and bring in specs moltres to either revenge kill it (praying it hits) or heavily damaging/ohkoing whatever comes in. torkoal is a problem as my only defogger and rock setter is skarmory. Will-o-wisp, stealth rock, lava plume, and rapid spin do work really well against skarm. i generally have to use whirlwhind on the first turn and use defog. practically sacking skarm as after the sturdy its cooked. but at least i can ensure torkoal wont setup again by simply keeping lando and thundurus running volt-turn. Charizard Y isnt a problem at all, thundurus outspeeds, mAltaria can sponge attacks but cant really hit back. however at +3 Lonely it is capable of taking out zard y if you manage not go get critted and/or flinched on the first air slash. however mach punch infernape and extremespeed entei shall be noted as they can pick off altaria at that state. Nothing else from fire is really a problem.

*Pshycic*

Mew is a multitasking action mofom, stealth rock will-o-wisp softboiled and heal bell along with synchronize can easily shuffle this team around and isnt ohko'd by anything. specs overheat can ohko it though if its running a physical wall set rather than special. Contrary malamar can also screw you over last minute. intimidate boosts attack, trick room outspeeds the team and superpower/night slash/psycho cut can wrap things up in a jiffy if you aren't careful. Volt-turn is really key here as you need to think what they are using and ensure to take as minimal damage as possible. Slowbro is checked by articuno as i run toxic and freeze dry. it cant break my sub with scald, fire blast is stalled out by pressure even if it lands em all. however it can screw over landorus as you'd have to u-turn into something else and take the toxic. Screen cresselia is a problem too, it is extremely bulky and can toxic stall the heck out of everything. with heal bell mew, yo ucant really outstall cresselia via toxic, but again its checked by articuno. Sadly with no double defog again, rocks can be an issue with constant switching and volt-turn.

Other flying teams of course can be a problem too. landorus with intimidate walls itself, skarm, togekiss, zapdos, gliscor, ah man the list goes on. if they know how to work flying then it will be a true battle of the wits.

  • Which types does this type have an advantage against?
Flying by far checks water the easiest. Freeze dry articuno can take swift swim swampert, otustall politoed, and still toxic tall keldeo barring it being specs. Thundurus-t can suck up electric moves from lanturn and run volt switch (ironically they probably run volt absorb too) but if theirs is dead you can run volt switch and grass knot to catch quagsire,swampert off guard. azuma is taken after a VS into skarm or even one on one after a belly drum you just whirlwhind it out. greninja is still ohkoed by ADAMANT* scarf lando with earthquake but if ninja is scarved then articuno is your life. if you dont have it then it may be a problem as zapdos would have to run heat wave and take a huge chunk from the ice beam.

Flying also checks grass of course, but not the easiest with skymin running around spamming its lucky ass lmao.
it easily outspeeeds my entire team sans scarfe and can of course run -sp def seed flare and air slash in conjunction with earth power and hp fire for excellent coverage. sash spore breloom is also a problem, normally i'd just use landorus and u-turn into natural cure altaria to take the spore then switch back into landorus and finish with the u-turn again or setup against the new pokemon with the switch initiative i'd get. but breloom's technician rock tomb can be a problem.


  • Which Pokemon help cover the type's weaknesses?
Ah. Well first off thundurus-therian should be essential in my opinion as it outspeeds a fair bit of common threats such as zard y, it manhandles water teams with volt switch and grass knot, plus you get free rocks recovery or hp by switching into an electric type. landorus switch ins are harder vs electric types as they can still carry hp ice. at least you know you can take an hp ice with thundurus-t.

ShockMeHarder (Thundurus-Therian) @ Life Orb
Ability: Volt Absorb
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Focus Blast
- Grass Knot
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Xatu is also a great check, i used to run hp ground, dazzlign gleam, psychock, and heatwave with timid 252+speed 252 sp atk. vs lead skarm its easy to break stury with lando's u-turn and just go into magic bounce xatu. go for heatwave it'll either die or live with very low % hp. if heatran comes in i can still go for hp ground and it wouldnt be able to ohko unless its running specs. maybe 252+sp atk modest overheat from heatran would be enough on that xatu set i don;t know, but consdier xatu as magic bounce can keep rocks off your team, dazzling gleam takes care of sableye.. etc its a nice poke. just doesnt tank much if you run it offensive.

Bounce Dat Shiz (Xatu) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Bounce
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Heat Wave
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Dazzling Gleam
- Roost



Articuno of course is by far the second msot notorious special wall for the flying type barring zapdos. however rotom-w still gives the team trouble if you have zapdos over articuno. just because you can roost before volt switch if they run a bulky set. zapdos isnt nearly as bulky as articuno but it's just preferred due to less rocks. articuno also handles infestation toxic gastrodon with the subtoxic set which zapdos wouldnt be able to pull off without freeze dry. articuno however is screwed by rock moves but zapdos isnt as susceptible, though stone edge is still a hard hitter for anything that doesnt resist it.

Frosted Flakes (Articuno) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 188 SpD / 68 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 29 HP
- Freeze-Dry
- Toxic
- Substitute
- Roost

Mega Altaria, probably the bestmega you can run on monoflying due to its ability to resist dragon. its so stupid how many battles i've won in tourneys or ladders due to someone getting too trigger happy with that scarf kyurem outrage. first off at +1 it ohkos dragonite from max hp with multiscale by using frustration. OH and why to use frustration. Many scarf ditto users love to copy your setup however even if you were at +6, their frustration would do i believe 1 or 2 damage because majority runs 255 happiness on ditto (its default, half of the people don't even take it into consideration). and that has saved me a few times so pelase do run frustration over return. Not everyone runs 255 happiness on ditto but most do (so don't flame me for saying you lost due to using 0 happiness)

CharminUltraSoft (Altaria) (F) @ Altarianite
Ability: Natural Cure
Shiny: Yes
Happiness: 0
EVs: 244 Atk / 12 SpA / 252 Spe
Lonely Nature
- Fire Blast
- Earthquake
- Dragon Dance
- Frustration

Honchkrow- This thing is a monsta. sucker punch, brave bird, heat wave, superpower/roost/sub @naugty/lonely nature can easily finish games late match. with moxie too oh lawd. heatran totally walls it if you dont run superpower but you can ohko heatran after a few rocks turns with sp. This thing is great for lategame cleanup, if you run spikes on skarm over rocks adn get 3 layers up then you can generally finish teams off with just sucker punch. Sub would be used where the sucker punch is obvious. you'd get a free turn on the switch and then get a safe attack.

ThatsSoRaven (Honchkrow) @ Life Orb
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 208 Atk / 48 SpA / 252 Spe
Naughty Nature
- Heat Wave
- Sucker Punch
- Superpower
- Brave Bird

Archeops- before you guys start putting hate comments on this you need to hear me out. Archeops alone can run 350 speed and 379atk at the same time. pop a power herb on that with sky attack, acrobatic,s stone edge and EQ and you can EASILY cleanup late game. Even banded with u-turn, eq, rock slide/Stone edge, and aerial ace/dragon claw. The ability kicks into effect once your hp is at 50% however if you want to take it to the next level you can run i believe 6 evs in hp to get 2 free stealth rock switches without activating its ability (defeatist). sitrus berry can help and roost can help, i've seen an efficient lead archeops as it's blazing fast with taunt, stealth rock, roost and u-turn. (and yes i lost that match in the finals 2-0 however he was truly impressed with my team as it was flying vs flying and it was a really intense battle lol but yeah) ARCHEOPS CAN KILL THINGS WITH EASE IF YOU KNOW HOW TO USE IT is all i gotta say haha. Do note ice shard and rockyhelm/ironbarbs can speed up the activation of defeatist so dont bother trying to be fancy vs ferrothornor using u-turn, just switch out.

Archeops @ Choice Band
Ability: Defeatist
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Aerial Ace
- U-turn
- Earthquake

Yanmega- This is easily capable of 6-0ing a team from any point of game, especially after rocks and/or spikes come into play. With a great sp atk stat and blistering speed due to its ability it serves as one of the best late game sweepers. commonly taking care of latios, heatran, starmie, sableye, shaymin-s, mew, victini, volcarona, etc..

F*ck StealthRock (Yanmega) @ Life Orb
Ability: Speed Boost
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 160 HP / 252 SpA / 96 Spe
Modest Nature
- Protect (if you arent faster than the opponents 252+ speed as shown by showdown then you should go for this move to be safe)
- Bug Buzz
- Air Slash
- Hidden Power [Ground] (takes care of heatran after some rocks)
Bug buzz and air slash being the two main STAB sweeping moves



  • What different EV spreads are used to help against certain types/Pokemon?


First off, most people just choose 4 moves via pokemondb.net, smogon, or wherever then use the recommended spread. or perhaps tweak 252 if they want to change it from bulky special/physical sweeper to fast BUT if you are using pokemon that are commonly used as walls such as slowbro, gastrodon, sableye, do consider taking off 7 evs from hp and adding them into speed just so you can outspeed others of the same poke as it can boil down to that often. in particular heatran vs heatran, and toxic staller vs toxic staller (whoever subs first).
It also helps to do research. When i was younger i used to stay up just reading and memorizing stats and sets and abilities to get to where i am now and it will really help you. e.g why run scarf kyu-b with 252speed when all you need is 310 speed to outspeed jolly scarf lando? the extra 7 speed you can unlock wont let you outspeed anything else but you can live 4 turns of rocks by adding 7 into hp* Sadly off the top of my head i dont know if 7evs would make the hp of kyu-b even or odd but its those small things that can turn outcomes in battles.



  • How does this type fare in the Monotype metagame?
In my opinion, it does well in general, it has a lot of powerhouses and can win games in 15turns as you get better.
The fact that steel is really common is a problem however "(not like it should be banned) but it makes using flying less enjoyable. flying can run volt-turn at fast pace or stall things out with articuno,zapdos, togekiss, and regen tornadus-t but its effectiveness in laddering is hindered by the abundance of steel teams (sorry if i sound like a steel hater, i am not at all trust me). Skymin with its speed and Serene grace air slashes can hurt this team, thats where zapdos is more favourable.

Oh boy, i just dedicated a bunch of time typing this up lol but hopefully its worth it if it means i'm helping a novice flying leader in the making or just giving insight to the general public.
I am generally in the Monotype Room as DTL Komet, Gym Leader Komet, or EverydayIs420 (when i feel like using my "grass" team).

Peace~
 
I guess I should do this since I'm a Flying user lol

  • Which types does this type have a disadvantage against?
Personally, I find myself crying if I find myself against Fighting, Dark, SS Water, and occasionally Ground and Steel.
  • Which types does this type have an advantage against?
I'm 90% sure I won when I'm against Bug, Electric, Poison, Rock, Psychic, Grass, and Flying (My team's anti Flying)
  • Which Pokemon help cover the type's weaknesses?
Flying is weak against Ice, Rock, and Electric soo

Defensive

Skarmory takes physical Ice + Rock Moves
Zapdos takes Electric moves in general
Togekiss can paralyze Kyurem-W at full health but that's it. Maybe paralyze Scarf Terrakion if Stone Edge misses?
Lando-T takes Physical Rock + Electric moves with Intimidate. It can set up Rocks against Ice types when it gets a chance.
Charizard-X takes Electric + Ice moves and can Roost up. Maybe Will-o-Wisp them if you're that set.
Mandibuzz takes Physical Ice, Rock + Electric moves ezpz while Foul Playing / Toxicing back.
Articuno laughs at anything special.
Gliscor, depending on your set can easily stomach Rock + Electric moves. Just Toxic / EQ in return.
Mega Altaria eats up Outrages, and everything Dragons can throw at it. Resists Electric, and is neutral to Rock as well.

Offensive

Both Thundy's spams Focus Blast against Ice + Rock. They outspeed pretty much everything anyways.
Lando-T spams EQ against Rock + Electric teams. Stone Edge for Ice.
Lando-I instantly beats up defensive Rock and Electric ezpz. Focus Blast mauls any Ice type without Ice Shard or a Sash.
Charizard-X beats up weakened Pokemon at +1. Fairy easy to set up as well with Voltswitch support.
Dragonite can set up a Dragon Dance and wreck havoc upon Rock + Electric monos with Earthquake + Dragon Claw. Extremespeed beats weakened Ice mons while outspeeding Ice Shard.
Mega Altaria can either start Dragon Dancing or start spamming Hyper Voice, your choice. Either way, it's going to hurt because of Pixalate. Electric is going to have a hard time trying to stop this.
Mega Gyarados easily beats Ice if it's Defensive Rest Talk. Gyarados also instawins vs Rock as well, since Mold Breaker ignores Cradily's Water Absorb. Electric is harder, but Mold Breaker ignores Rotom-W's Levitate.
Mega Charizard-Y gives Ice + Rock a hard time. Fire Bast + Solarbeam destroys everything while removing Rock's precious sand. Charizard-Y will almost always KO something if it gets a free switch in against Electric.
Honchkrow just spams Sucker Punch, and BB against Ice teams. It nukes everything it touches outside of Avalugg.l
Mega Aerodactyl is fast enough to outspeed every non boosted Ice type and hurt it with Stone Edge. It has the bulk to live an Ice Shard as well. Against Rock + Electric, it can just spam EQ and Stone Edge since they're weak to Edgequake.
Staraptor beats Ice + Rock by spamming Close Combat, and nukes Electrics when using Double Edge.
Hawlucha is gg against Rock and Ice teams without priority + Avalugg. Hard time against Electric tho.

  • What plays can you make to win against threats to your team of this type?
Play smart, double switch a lot, and hax. You need to keep certain stuff healthy as well, so they can check threats throughout the match.
  • What sets can be run to check certain threats?
My team's too standard, so I'll use Arifeen 's Charizard-X as an example. He normally has trouble with Greninja and Ice Beam spammers so he has a Specially Defensive Zard to counter them. To make it even bulkier, he puts Will-o-Wisp to neutralize Physical attackers that may be lured in.

Actually I lied, I found of a set that I use that checks certain threats. My Zapdos has Toxic instead of Heat Wave / HP Ice because it puts set up sweepers on a timer, and it prevents SR users such as Hippowdon from staying in forever. Pressure lets Defog outstall Stealth Rock which is nice.
  • What different EV spreads are used to help against certain types/Pokemon?
lolllll my team's so generic that the weirdest thing is Roost DD Zard... next question?
  • How does this type fare in the Monotype metagame?
Extremely well. Flying has a good amount of hazard controllers depending on what you need. It gets a choice between Spikes and Stealth Rock, and Heal Bellers. Flying also has a ton of recovery moves making it suitable for bulkier teams, and it has an amazing choice of megas. Each one viable, and able to check / counter anything that threatens Flying.
 
I'm not really adding anything new here but here we go.

Type combinations that double resist Flying moves are: Rock/Electric, Rock/Steel and Electric/Steel. Of these, there are no Rock/Electric pokemon, Rock/Steel pokemon are Aggron (45.95% on Rock, 2.39% on Steel), Bastiodon (3.00% on Rock, 0.32% on Steel) and Probopass (4.48% on Rock, 0.67% on Steel), and the sole Electric/Steel is Magnezone (37.72% on Steel, 69.09% on Electric). All of these pokemon are 4x damage from Ground, so shouldn't really pose a problem to Flying with Gliscor or Landorous.

Type combinations that have double STAB against Flying type are: Electric/Rock, Electric/Ice and Rock/Ice. There are only two pokemon, Aurorus (2.50% on Ice, 3.28% on Rock) and Rotom-Frost (15.70% on Ice, 0.27% on Electric). In essence, they are not huge threats. The move combination in general can in general also be dealt with. Skarmory can take neutral damage from Ice and Rock moves (at least physical moves) and Landorus/Gliscor can take neutral (or zero) damage from Electric and Rock moves. Hence, the only combination that poses a real threat are pokemon that run both Electric and Ice moves, as it becomes a prediction game of which pokemon to switch to (assuming that the Flying pokemon you have in can't counter or tank), as every Flying pokemon is weak to one of these. I have no idea how many pokemon run both electric and ice moves (especially special moves) however I guess it would be interesting to know.

EDIT: I completely forgot about Mega-Charizard-X, which can take neutral damage from both Ice and Electric moves. Still, if you aren't running it, the above statement holds.
So I guess Skarmory, Landorous/Gliscor and Mega-Charazard-X would make a nice defensive core for flying, but I don't know much about flying.

The real question now is, how many pokemon can run Electric, Rock and Ice moves simultaneously and have the stats to use the effectively?
 
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Other the course of this post I will cover some of Flying's biggest threats as I see it. If you feel anything is wrong or I am missing something feel free to use constructive criticism

So as DM hinted at before both fused formes of Kyurem are in my opinion two of Flying's biggest threats. While they may lack in speed (Both are base 95) but with 125/100/90 and 125/90/100 bulk for Kyurem-B and W respectfully, they are more than capable of tanking a hit and then hitting back.

Although they both have monster stats, Kyurem-W is probably the more potent of the two, being able to use it's base 170 attack at full power, and with its coverage of Draco Meteor, Ice Beam and Fusion Flare can hurt each member of any flying team. However that's not to say that Kyurem-B isn't deadly against Flying. He usually runs a larger variety of sets (eg. Band, Scarf, LO, Sub, ) compared to Kyu-W who can still use some of those sets but mainly runs Scarf, Specs or LO.

These are the main sets you will see for both Pokemon;

Kyurem-B:

Kyurem-Black @ Choice Band/Choice Scarf
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 24 HP / 252 Atk / 232 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Fusion Bolt
- Outrage
- Ice Beam/Iron Head

Kyurem-Black @ Life Orb/Expert Belt
EVs: 252 Atk / 56 SpA / 200 Spe
Lonely Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Fusion Bolt
- Ice Beam
- Iron Head

Kyurem-Black @ Leftovers
EVs: 56 HP / 252 SpA / 200 Spe
Mild Nature
- Substitute
- Ice Beam
- Fusion Bolt/Roost
- Earth Power


Kyurem-W:

Kyurem-White @ Choice Specs/Choice Scarf/Life Orb
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Ice Beam
- Fusion Flare
- Earth Power


Alongsinde these two is one of the most versatile Pokemon in the Monotype Meta. Greninja can also be an incredible threat to Flying due to it's huge movepool and STAB on every move due to Protean, it can be a very hard task for Flying to wall it, usually relying on revenge killers or generally outspeeding it with Scarf Pokemon.

Greninja is usually specially orientated but can also run physical sets for a surprise factor. However Special Greninja is more of a threat to Flying;

Greninja @ Life Orb/Expert Belt
Ability: Protean
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP or 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
or 92 Atk / 164 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid/Hasty Nature
- Grass Knot/U-turn/Gunk Shot/Rock Slide
- Extrasensory
- Ice Beam
- Surf/Hydro Pump/Scald

There are also many other checks against Flying but some of these are easier to deal with than the above. These include Scarf/Band Terrakion and Gravity/Rock Polish Landorus-I. Shell Smash Cloyster and Charizard-X can also hurt flying but require Skarmory to either be KO'd or have Sturdy broken.

All in all Flying is one of the strongest monotypes in the meta but if you pack any of these Pokemon there is a fair chance you will be able to win
 
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InfernapeTropius11

get on my level
Muh team:


Which types does this type have a disadvantage against?
Well, my team struggles with Fighting, ironically enough as I have one Flying move on my whole team :I. Especially Trick Room Fighting. One of my main strategies is to paralyze everything then hax with bulky Togekiss lol, so they don't care about the speed drop. My team struggles with Trick Room in general, as my Pokemon are decently fast, I spread status a ton, and nothing is slow enough to outslow them lmao. Sash Froslass can also be a problem, but Togekiss usually handles it fairly well or Char X does OK with Flare Blitz/WoW and being bulky. Mega Diancie was a problem until I changed Skarmory. Ground is also a problem as they are predominately physical, carry EdgeQuake to murder my team, Skarmory is roasted by Fire Blast chomp, or Flamethrower/T-Bolt by Nidoking, and they can't be Thunder Waved. Thundurus-I is a godsend in this matchup (even if his Prankster T-Wave does nothing) as with HP Ice/Grass Knot it can outspeed and kill Gastrodon, Hippowdon, Landorus, and Mega Garchomp, or just non-Scarf Garchomp. Mamoswine and Excadrill are the biggest threats, with Ice Shard/Stone Edge/EQ/Scarf and Rock Slide/EQ/Sand Rush respectively, as they outspeed and hit hard. Basically, if I don't eliminate Hippo quickly, I'm doomed. Once Hippo is gone, however, I can stall out Sand, and then Lando-I can handle Excadrill. Skarmory is almost as important in this matchup for being able to LO stall Excadrill, or simply wall it until Sand is gone. It also walls Mamoswine, and Iron Head/Roost will usually win. ScarfChomp is walled by Skarmory or Char X depending on the move it chooses (Fire Blast: Char X. Edge/Quake/Dragon STAB: Skarm). Nidoking is usually Scarfed, so you can wall whatever move it is locked into: Sludge Wave is Skarm, Flamethrower/T-Bolt/Ice Beam is Char X, and Zapdos can also take T-Bolt. Anything but Char X takes Earth Power lol. If it is LO, Lando-I outspeeds and Earth powers it. Steel can also be a problem, but Lando-I/Char X usually handle steel pretty effectively. I mostly just hate Fighting Steel because it is so common and so generic lol. Mega Sableye is a threat if Char X is dead. Otherwise, Char X 2HKOs after Rocks with Flare Blitz (one of the reasons I run Flare Blitz over EQ or Fire Punch even though it is BulkyZard), so I have to preserve Char X. Kyurem-W isn't a problem for me as I run Prankster T-Wave Thundy-I. If it is Sub though, I generally have to sack Landorus to break the Sub while it kills it, then bring in Thundurus to cripple it, allowing Togekiss flinchax or Char X Dragon Claw to clean up. Kyurem-B is dealt with in the same manner. Other than that this team does pretty well, and it can even beat these threats. It's pretty anti-meta and has won a couple of tourneys, when I've bothered to A) Try B) Not use some weird gimmick team and C) Not have to leave halfway through. Lol.

Which types does this type have an advantage against?
I personally find I have a relatively time against Fairy. Char X walls Gardevoir, Mega Gardevoir, and Sylveon, Skarmory walls Azumarill (whirlwinds while it BDs :3) and Mega Diancie, Lando-I can sweep with Sludge Wave once scarves are gone (2 shots pretty much everything, and outspeeds everything except ScarfKiss, ScarfGarde, and Mega Diancie after Mega evolution). Also OHKOs Mega Diancie (it outspeeds it before it Mega evolves) and can 2HKO Klefki through Light Screen (unless crithax fall in your favour, then it is OHKO :P) and Klefki can't T-Wave it, Spikes vs. Flying is lol, and Foul Play doesn't do much. I usually win those matchups. It also is pretty good against Grass (it was better when I had Psychic on Lando-I: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/monotype-194550013 but still usually wins--Togekiss paraflinchax beats Mega Venusaur (and reg)/Contrary Serperior/Roserade pretty easily), Electric (lol, but it's true), Ghost, Dark, Rock (now that I've made a couple changes), and Bug.

Which Pokemon help cover this type's weaknesses?
Electric:
Landorus-Therian is immune and is a good physical wall, and has EQ. Landorus-Incarnate is immune and is an excellent special wallbreaker and has Earth Power. Mega Altaria resists, and is a good D-Dance sweeper, or a bulky Heal Beller (either physical or special) and learns EQ. Mega Charizard X resists and is a great special wall that can kill stuff, or is a good D-Dance sweeper and learns EQ. Zapdos is neutral and is a great wall (physical or special) and can Toxic stall. Thundurus-Therian is immune and gets healed because of Volt Absorb, and is a good Choice or LO special attacker with excellent 145 SpA. Gliscor is immune and is an excellent defensive wall/staller with Poison Heal and has EQ. Also absorbs status like a boss :3. Dragonite, Noivern, and Salamence also are neutral to electric, Salamence/Dragonite commonly carry EQ to kill them, and Noivern simply hits like a truck with Specs and is really fast. Lol, I think electric is covered. Gyarados/Mega Gyarados also get EQ (Mega is OK with EQ to hit Electric types such as Rotom-W but regular Gyarados is 4x weak so it shouldn't really be staying in on too many electric types unless it already has a couple Dragon Dances under its belt and can one shot them).

Ice:
Skarmory is amazing, and takes every physical Ice hit. Icicle Crash, Ice Shard, Ice Punch, they do nothing and it Roosts off damage. It has Iron Head to nail them back (unless you run the generic Brave Bird). Both Mega Charizards take Ice neutrally and are capable of running effective special wall sets to tank all the Ice Beams (I prefer Char X because it combines good attack, good defense, and good special defense in an awesome combination that resists Thunderbolt and is neutral to Ice Beam so it can tank BoltBeam). Char X nails back with a Tough Claws boosted Flare Blitz/Fire Punch and Char Y's Fire Blasts/Heat Waves/Flamethrowers in sun hurt. Gyarados is neutral to Ice and can run a neat parashuffling RestTalk set, or SubDD. Also has Intimidate or Moxie. Mega Gyarados resists Ice and can run many sets: bulky RestTalk shuffler with Waterfall/Crunch/T-Wave, DDance+3 attacks sweeper, SubDD, RestTalk DD Waterfall, etc. Sets with only Waterfall are viable as Mold Breaker bypasses Storm Drain/Water Absorb. Articuno is PU and underrated (talk to ArVaDa- lol). It is also neutral to Ice and is an amazing special wall. It does have a crippling Stealth Rock weakness, but if you can learn to play around that, Articuno is an amazing addition to most defensive Flying teams. Landorus-I gets Focus Blast, Lando-T gets Stone Edge, Dragonite gets Fire Punch, Togekiss gets Fire Blast/Flamethrower, Staraptor gets Close Combat, Noivern gets Flamethrower, Aerodactyl/Mega Aerodactyl get Stone Edge, Hawlucha gets HJK, Mega Bird Jeezus (aka Mega Pidgeot) gets unmissable Heat Wave, Honchkrow gets Superpower, and Thundurus/Noivern/Tornadus get Focus Blast to hit them for SE damage. I think Ice is covered too :3.

Rock:
Skarmory is neutral to Rock and is generally amazing (it is a centerpiece in just about all of my matchups as my sole defensive wall lol) and takes every Stone Edge, Diamond Storm, or Rock Blast ever. Iron Head is SE on Rock. Gliscor is also a great defensive wall with excellent stalling ability through Poison Heal offering double the lefties recovery, access to Roost, Toxic, and Protect for longevity, as well as other moves such as Knock Off (removes items), Earthquake (STAB, SE on Rock), Stealth Rock (hazards!!!), or Defog (hazard removal :3). It also has a neat SD set with wide coverage, or Baton Pass to pass boosts if you feel so inclined (passing +2 speed from Agility to Lando-I is a niche set I tried for a bit that was pretty cool, unless they have strong priority). Lando-I is still here, awesome special wallbreaker/sweeper and neutral to Rock. Lando-T is once again a cool defensive tank with Intimidate and a neutrality to another of Flying's weakness--Rock. Earth Power or EQ from them hits Rock for SE damage. Lando-I also has Focus Blast. Hawlucha is also neutral to Rock, and HJK 130 Base Power STAB hurts. Mega Altaria is neutral to Rock and has EQ. Mega Gyarados is neutral to Rock and has EQ/Waterfall. Mega Char X, regular Gyarados, Dragonite, Aerodactyl/MegaDactyl, and Salamence all have EQ, Staraptor has Close Combat, and Tornadus/Thundurus/Noivern have Focus Blast to hit Rock for SE damage. Rock is covered too :P.

To conclude this section, Flying has multiple Pokemon that are immune to, resist, or are neutral to all of its weaknesses. They have a wide selection of walls that can be combined to form an effective core that defensively covers its natural weaknesses. They also have a wide selection of attackers that can hit their weaknesses for SE damage.

What plays can you make to win against threats to your team of this type?
Hax helps rof. Double switches to walls, good scouting, spreading status, then finishing up with hax (Togekiss), or some power (Thundy/Lando/Char X) is my usual strategy. Setting Rocks, phazing, and forcing switches weakens opponents and makes them easy to kill. My battles generally go something like this, regardless of the matchup: first 25 or so turns I stall, set Rocks, and status EVERYTHING (if fast, Thunder Wave. If stally, Toxic. If dangerous physical attacker, WoW). Get some chip damage. After that, it starts to depend on playstyle more than type. If they are stally, outstall them, occasionally hitting hard with Lando/Thundy/Char X to finish off weakened Pokemon. If offensive, hax with Togekiss or Lando/Thundy can sweep. My main strategy is to hope for critical hits, flinchax, and parahax.

What sets can be run to check certain threats?
If you find you are struggling with fast threats, such as Scarf Terrakion, Scarf Kyurem, and Scarf Heracross, I recommend using Thundy-I. Prankster T-Wave does wonders, and Togekiss can proceed to hax them or your other Pokemon can hit hard. AgilityPass Gliscor is also an option to something like Landorus-I, Thundurus, or Honchkrow. Running Dazzling Gleam on Togekiss is an option to hit Mega Sableye harder, but I would recommend changing to a Nasty Plot or Specs/Scarf set if you want to do this. Those are a couple of changes I have considered making, other than that, it kinda depends on your playstyle and what you have found threatens you. Feel free to PM if you want me to help you beat a threat ^_^

What different EV spreads are used to help against certain types/Pokemon?
Um. Speed creep I guess? Maybe some more investment into defenses to tank a hit or two from a threat and retaliate, or more offense if they got a KO. My advice is to play around with the EVs a bit, but don't needlessly add EVs to random stats, for example, Skarmory doesn't need 200 speed or anything like that, as it's purpose is to wall stuff. On offensive Pokemon/scarfed Pokemon, you can always ask people in the monotype room who will give you a number of speed tiers you can hit with different EV investment. I run 20 Atk on Skarm for something, I just can't remember what. Other than that my speedcreep is (usually) either generic, or someone recommended it to me for a reason I thought was good. Ask me again when Bug and Dark come up and I'll have a better answer to this question :3. Also: I'm the scrub who runs 92 speed Mega Venusaur to outspeed full speed Aggron/Mega Aggron to Leech Seed them before they Taunt me. It is useful in 1v1 (as proven yesterday when I did a battle for fun when I was bored) but old habits die hard lol. At least it could help against Mega Mawile, now even that is gone lol. This would apply more to Flying if you chose to use Yanmega and want to know what it outspeeds at +1 and +2.

How does this type fare in the monotype metagame?
Flying fares extremely well in monotype as shown by its high usage (used more than any other type. Source: http://monotypeps.weebly.com/stats.html). It covers its weaknesses very well, and has a dual typing with every other type. This allows it to hit every type in the metagame with a STAB if you choose, and it has wide type diversity. It has access to tremendous offensive Pokemon (both physical and special, wallbreakers and sweepers, set up Pokemon and Pokemon that hit hard right away) as well as amazing defensive Pokemon (physical and special walls, as well as hard-hitting tanks). There are many viable options, and Flying is overall a dominant type in the monotype metagame. I explained in more detail my view on what makes a type viable in monotype over on the ladder thread, if you're interested here is the link: http://www.smogon.com/forums/thread...-tiering-updates.3493087/page-57#post-6017329.

Explanation of my team:

Skarmory @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Sturdy
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 240 HP / 20 Atk / 248 Def
Impish Nature
- Iron Head
- Stealth Rock
- Roost
- Whirlwind

Skarmory is my physical wall and usually my go-to lead. It sets Rocks, then proceeds to wall every physical hit while getting chip damage in through Rocky Helmet and occasionally Iron Head. Iron Head helps me in the disadvantageous Rock and Ice matchups, and specifically helps it beat Terrakion, Mega Diancie, Mamoswine, and Weavile/Froslass (who may quickly Taunt it). It also phases out threats I let set up, and can't be OHKOed if Sturdy is intact (barring Mold Breaker). Roost is obviously recovery as I lack Leftovers. 20 Atk is good cuz reasons. They were good ones too, I just can't remember them :P. Other options: Defog is good for hazard removal, and it can just reset Rocks afterwards. Brave Bird is the generic attack on Skarmory and is a 120 BP Flying STAB. Spikes can be used over Stealth Rock if you prefer hazard stacking or if you have another Stealth Rock setter, but generally Rocks is preferred. Leftovers is another item option if you prefer passive recovery over residual damage for opponents making contact.

Landorus @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Earth Power
- Focus Blast
- Sludge Wave
- Gravity

Landorus-Incarnate is one of the best special wallbreakers in the game, and is also capable of sweeping. It is my usualy wincondition. Every move activates Sheer Force, so my total LO recoil is 0--it is basically a free 1.3x boost to all of my attacks. When combined, Sheer Force and LO give a 1.729x boost to my attacks, which is more than Choice Specs does on its own. Earth Power is STAB. Focus Blast nails Ice, Rock, and Dark types hard. Sludge Wave murders Fairies and Grass types. Gravity helps in the mirror matchup, allowing you to kill Skarmory, Zapdos, and Thundurus easier. It also hits key targets in other matchups, such as every Electric type, every Rock type, and every Steel type with Earth Power. Other Options: Psychic also activates Sheer Force and LO, hitting Mega Venusaur, Weezing, and Fighting types hard, I used to use this and it was really successful. Knock Off deprives Chansey/Porygon2 of their Eviolites, while also neutering other walls that rely on items. Note that you will take recoil damage from LO when using Knock Off. Calm Mind can be used to boost. Rock Slide is another coverage move. It is chosen over Stone Edge as they are approximately the same power (Rock Slide gets Sheer Force, Stone Edge doesn't) but Rock Slide doesn't take LO recoil while Stone Edge does.

Thundurus @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 Def
- Thunder Wave
- Grass Knot
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]

I use Thundurus-Incarnate over its generic Therian forme. Why? Prankster Thunder Wave. I have Electric covered pretty well with Lando-I/Char X/Zapdos giving me an immunity, a resistance, and a neutrality so I chose to run the crippler over the immunity dude. It turned out to be a good decision as I have not struggled with Electric, but I have been in situations where a Scarfers or boosted Pokemon can outspeed and dent my whole team. Thunder Wave stops them, allowing me to outspeed them and deal with them accordingly. Thunderbolt is a STAB. Grass Knot/HP Ice are coverage that greatly help me against Ground. Thundurus is my wincondition vs. Ground and in a couple of other matchups. It is also very helpful against Water. Other Options: Focus Blast is coverage. Volt Switch is momentum. Prankster Taunt cripples hazard leads and passive Pokemon. I used it effectively for a while. Nasty Plot makes you hit like a truck and gets Prankster so you can outspeed Taunters who want to stop you from setting up. Life Orb is an option for more power, but as I use it mainly as a way to beat Hippowdon and is my usual wincon vs. Ground, I prefer Leftovers negating the sandstorm damage. It also gives it slightly more longevity in other battles, as it recovers health rather than stripping it. You can use it if you want though. Choice Scarf is an item because you gotta go fast. I recommend using Volt Switch or Focus Blast over Thunder Wave, and potentially Thunderbolt if you go this route, but generally Thundy-Therian outclasses it as a Scarf user.

Charizard-Mega-X @ Charizardite X
Ability: Tough Claws
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 228 HP / 252 SpD / 28 Spe
Careful Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Roost
- Dragon Claw
- Flare Blitz

Mega Charizard X is my Mega. I run the specially bulky WoW set to wall BoltBeam and cripple physical attackers simultaneously. WoW is burns. Roost is Roost. Dragon Claw is STAB that gets the Tough Claws boost. Flare Blitz is also a STAB that gets the Tough Claws boost. You might be wondering why I run a move with recoil on a bulky Pokemon that is supposed to tank hits. The answer is because I need the power. Mega Char X is my best answer to Mega Sableye, and Flare Blitz is a guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock. If I didn't run Flare Blitz, the power drop is very noticeable, and I would have to rely on Landorus-I and crits to kill Mega Sableye. Mega Char X is still usually bulky enough to tank a hit, and can Roost off the damage afterwards.

Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Roost
- Discharge
- Toxic

Zapdos is one of my 3 special walls and takes Thunderbolts really well so I can save Char X for later. It is also my Defogger, which is necessary on a Flying team, as they are weak to Rocks. Defog is hazard removal. Roost is still Roost. Discharge is a STAB which has a cool 30% chance to paralyze for more status. Toxic is poisoning that puts walls on a timer. Pressure is a cool ability for a wall, as it can PP stall Pokemon (such as Hydro Pumps and other 8 PP moves in 4 turns, rather than 8). Other Options: Heat Wave is used to nail Scizor, Ferrothorn, and Forretress hard. It hits Steel types not named Heatran or Emploeon for SE damage. I used to use this, and it was very good (I just wanted ebun moar status :]). Thunderbolt/Volt Switch are alternate STABs. Thunderbolt hits harder, and Volt Switch is momentum, but generally Discharge is preferred for the para chance. It won me a game against Spectre Knight when it paralyzed a Medicham switch in--apparently it was his wincon, so he forfeited. A physically defensive spread for Zapdos is also viable to let it take the physical Electric and Steel hits that Togekiss hates.

Togekiss @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 232 HP / 8 SpA / 252 SpD / 16 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Air Slash
- Thunder Wave
- Roost
- Heal Bell

Togekiss! Based Fairy burd OP and haxy. Thunder Wave keeps up with my status everything motto. Air Slash is STAB and haxes everything late game. It is my wincon through haxiness in many matchups :]. Heal Bell is very important as it allows me to outstall the opponent--the status I spread stays, while my Pokemon are cured. Roost is still Roost. Other Options: a Nasty Plot set is viable. A Scarf or Specs set is viable too. Fire Blast is an option to hit Steels hard. Dazzling Gleam hits Mega Sableye hard. Both of these could be used over Heal Bell if you run Heal Bell Articuno or Gliscor as a status absorber, but are generally preferred on a Choice or boosting set. It also has Aura Sphere, Grass Knot, and Psyshock for other special moves.

Anyway, I hope I added something, this seems like a really cool thread! I look forward to seeing how this turns out!
 

InfernapeTropius11

get on my level
I'm not really adding anything new here but here we go.

Type combinations that double resist Flying moves are: Rock/Electric, Rock/Steel and Electric/Steel. Of these, there are no Rock/Electric pokemon, Rock/Steel pokemon are Aggron (45.95% on Rock, 2.39% on Steel), Bastiodon (3.00% on Rock, 0.32% on Steel) and Probopass (4.48% on Rock, 0.67% on Steel), and the sole Electric/Steel is Magnezone (37.72% on Steel, 69.09% on Electric). All of these pokemon are 4x damage from Ground, so shouldn't really pose a problem to Flying with Gliscor or Landorous.

Type combinations that have double STAB against Flying type are: Electric/Rock, Electric/Ice and Rock/Ice. There are only two pokemon, Aurorus (2.50% on Ice, 3.28% on Rock) and Rotom-Frost (15.70% on Ice, 0.27% on Electric). In essence, they are not huge threats. The move combination in general can in general also be dealt with. Skarmory can take neutral damage from Ice and Rock moves (at least physical moves) and Landorus/Gliscor can take neutral (or zero) damage from Electric and Rock moves. Hence, the only combination that poses a real threat are pokemon that run both Electric and Ice moves, as it becomes a prediction game of which pokemon to switch to (assuming that the Flying pokemon you have in can't counter or tank), as every Flying pokemon is weak to one of these. I have no idea how many pokemon run both electric and ice moves (especially special moves) however I guess it would be interesting to know.

EDIT: I completely forgot about Mega-Charizard-X, which can take neutral damage from both Ice and Electric moves. Still, if you aren't running it, the above statement holds.
So I guess Skarmory, Landorous/Gliscor and Mega-Charazard-X would make a nice defensive core for flying, but I don't know much about flying.

The real question now is, how many pokemon can run Electric, Rock and Ice moves simultaneously and have the stats to use the effectively?
BoltBeam is a famous move combo, and can totally wreck unprepared Flying teams. Some viable Pokemon that can use BoltBeam include Tyranitar, Genesect, Porygon-Z, Porygon2, Clefable, Goodra, Latias, Latios, Nidoking, and Nidoqueen. Of course, many other Pokemon have both Thunderbolt and Ice Beam, or pseudo BoltBeam (either Thunderbolt/Ice move, usually HP Ice, or Ice Beam and an Electric move, usually Discharge or HP Electric). Some pseudo BoltBeam users include Thundurus, Magnezone, Electivire (physical BoltBeam o.o), Kyurem-Black (mixed BoltBeam o.o), and Mega Manectric.
To answer "the real question" I would say Tyranitar is the best answer with access to all three types of moves that are SE on Flying. It can go mixed, and has access to Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, AND Stone Edge (I personally run that set + Flamethrower with Ass Vest). It also has the stats to use it effectively. Other Pokemon without all three, such as Kyurem-W and Kyurem-B are deadly too with other combos. Kyurem-B has Bolt Strike/Dragon STAB or Earth Power/Ice Beam to hit every Flying type for SE damage. Kyurem-W has insanely powerful Ice Beam/Dragon STAB, and Fusion Flare to hit Skarmory and Articuno. Neither Dragon or Fire is SE on Flying, but they are neutral, and the dual typing takes it with SE damage. Sorry for double post btw, but this is sorta different from my last post :L
 

scpinion

Life > Monotype... unfortunately :)
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Greninja is usually specially orientated but can also run physical sets for a surprise factor. However Special Greninja is more of a threat to Flying;

Greninja @ Life Orb/Expert Belt
Ability: Protean
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP or 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Grass Knot/U-turn/Rock Slide
- Extrasensory
- Ice Beam
- Surf/Hydro Pump/Scald
Awesome post mate! Toge is on most of the top tier Flying teams and LO Gunk Shot on Greninja is a roll to OHKO 248 HP sets, iirc it is only 92 evs to guarantee the KO. Worth slashing imo.
 
Week 1: Flying
Ok so like we said at the end of each week we would summarise about what has been said about the present type over the last week. For the inaugural week Flying was the monotype that was chosen. Flying is one of the strongest types in the Meta, with a great offensive core which is also backed up by an equally good defensive one too. There is also no shortage to usable Pokemon and while there is a Generic build (Thundurus-T, Mega Charizard X, Zapdos, Skarmory, Togekiss and Landorus-T being the more prominent Pokemon to use) many other flying Pokemon can be substituted in while still keeping a good overall balance in the team.

Flying may not have the highest amount of types it is SE against but Fighting and Bug are two highly used Monotypes at the moment with Grass rising in usage also. There are also many neutral battles that a well played Flying mono team can beat such as Normal, Fire, Ghost, Poison and other Flying monotypes

However it is not without its weaknesses as well. Flying can find itself struggling against certain types namely Ice, Rock, Steel, Water, Ground and can all give Flying troubles whether it's through the use of super effective STAB, coverage moves or certain hazards/status moves (namely Stealth Rock). Pokemon either in these mono's or with great coverage can also be the bane of many flying teams. Pokemon such as Kyurem-B and W, Greninja, Genesect, Gravity Landorus, and Cloyster can sweep through Flying monotypes if they're given the chance.

But that's not to say all is lost. Flying has it's own countermeasures to these types which means winning can still be an option. Thundy-I can hurt all of those types with it's coverage (Focus Blast for Ice, Rock and Steel, Grass Knot for Rock, Ground and Water). Zard X can hurt pretty much everything after a Dragon Dance or two but mainly Steel and Ice with Dragon Claw, EQ, Flare Blitz.

When you collect all of these points it can make you realise how potent a Flying monotype team can be and it should always be thought of when selecting a type to use or if you are teambuilding with another type.
 

Snaquaza

KACAW
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Week 2: Water

Water has the most available Pokemon. Do they cover up their weaknesses well and how do they beat them. What do they have an advantage agains't and what should you look out for. Does the variety help out during teambuilding, or is the pool of viable Pokemon surprisingly small? Please discuss your strategies, teams and whatever you can think of!
 

InfernapeTropius11

get on my level
Water has consistently been a popular and top-tier types, holding down third for the last two months while others moved around it. It is competitive with a majority of the metagame, covers its weaknesses well, and is highly customizable with multiple Pokemon per role. This allows people to use more Pokemon that they choose because they like, rather than simply because they are necessary, which leads to people having more fun imo :).

Water can handle its weaknesses very well:

Azumarill has access to Sap Sipper as it's ability making it immune to water. Based penguin is neutral to Grass and specially defensive sets let it be a Skymin counter. Scarf Earth Power can't 2HKO and Ice Beam OHKOs back. Seed Flare can 2HKO if it gets the first SpD drop, but it can't OHKO and 4 Spa Empoleon Ice Beam OHKOs Skymin. Underrated imo, but a great special wall, hazard setter, and hazards remover. Tentacruel is also neutral to Grass. It functions has a hazard remover and a Toxic Spikes setter, while crippling special walls with Acid Spray. Liquid Ooze hurts users of Giga Drain/Horn Leech/Leech Seed for using them, removing the amount of HP they would normally recover. Ludicolo is neutral to Grass as well, and is immune to Leech Seed being part Grass type itself. Gyarados is neutral to Grass and it's Bounce Flying STAB wrecks them. Ludicolo can run attacking, physically bulky, or specially bulky sets and Gyarados can too, but generally only runs attacking or specially bulky. Kingdra is not a defensive Pokemon, but its Dragon typing makes it neutral to Grass.


Tentacruel has Acid Spray, Sludge Wave, and balk to totally wreck Grass. Gyarados gets STAB Bounce, and either bulk or power with D-Dance. Cloyster gets Shell Smash and STAB Icicle Spear that hits 5 times, for 125 base power that breaks Subs, Sashes, and Sturdy. This may not seem like much, but just about every Water type gets Ice Beam, Azumarill has Ice Punch, and Keldeo has Icy Wind.


Swampert, Quagsire, Gastrodon, and Seismitoad are all part Ground type, so they are all immune to Electric. Gastrodon and Seismitoad generally aren't too viable on Water however, as their abilities make them immune to Water, which Water already resists. #LuckyLanturn has Volt Absorb to be immune to Electric attacks. Ludicolo is neutral to Electric and can run an offensive, physically defensive, or specially defensive set. Kingdra is usually an offensive Pokemon, but its Dragon typing gives it a neutrality to Electric as well. Rotom-Wash resists Electric.


Swampert and Quagsire have Earthquake and Gastrodon and Seismitoad have Earth Power. While the last two aren't used often and Quagsire rarely runs Earthquake, most Electric types are rather frail, and repeated hard hits, or SE hits on their other type will often be enough to KO them.


Water has an advantage against Rock, Ground, and Fire (obviously) but also does well against Ice, Steel, Ghost, and Dark. I would say this is because it resists Ice and Steel, and Ghost and Dark are threatened by Azumarill, Keldeo, and Greninja, the 3 most common Pokemon on Water, and arguably their best attackers. They struggle against their weaknesses and against Dragon. Their walls are all neutral to Dragon, apart from Azumarill who is slow and generally used as an attacker, and Empoleon so the sheer power of repeated and/or boosted Draco Meteors and Outrages can begin to take a toll. Flying also wins more than its share of matchups, probably because it can outstall Water, and has hard hitters. Greninja really helps in this matchup, just don't let it die or get Pressure stalled. It can also occasionally struggle against the stalling power of Normal or Psyhic, and Fairy hits Greninja for SE damage in base form, hits Keldeo for SE damage, and hits walls neutrally, outside Empoleon and Tentacruel who are killed by the common Ground, Fighting, or Psychic coverage. Bug and its Sticky Webs are a struggle for more offensive Water teams, especially if they lack a spinner/defogger. Despite this, Water is still a very competitive type in the monotype metagame and has ways around all of these types/setbacks.

The pool of viable Pokemon is not small whatsoever. It is very large, and highly customizable. Here is a pretty basic summation:

Special Walls:
Empoleon
Tentacruel
Ludicolo
Lanturn
Politoed
Vaporeon
Suicune
Rotom-Wash
Gyarados

Physical Walls:
Ludicolo
Lanturn
Rotom-Wash
Slowbro
Alomomola
Quagsire
Swampert

Support:
Vaporeon (Wish passing and Heal Bell)
Empoleon (Rocks and Defog)
Starmie (Rapid Spin)
Swampert (Rocks and Yawn/Roar)
Alomomola (Wish)
Lanturn (Heal Bell, T-Wave/Toxic, and slow Volt Switch)

Attackers:
Greninja (physical, special, or mixed)
Keldeo (special, but pseudo mixed, as Secret Sword hits based on defense despite being a special attack)
Azumarill (physical)
Gyarados (physical)
Starmie (special)
Mega Swampert (physical)
Kingdra (special)
Ludicolo (special)
Manaphy (special)
Crawdaunt (physical)
Sharpedo (physical)

I will now analyze some of the most viable Water-type Pokemon individually:

Overview:
Greninja is an absolutely amazing Pokemon. It has incredible speed that makes it faster than the supercommon base 100 speed tier, the megafilled and also common base 110 tier, as well as Pokemon above that such as Serperior, Whimsicott, Mega Houndoom, Thundurus-I, Alakazam, and Mega-Pidgeot. It also gets one of the best abilities in the game--Protean. This changes its type, giving it STAB on any move, and also providing useful immunities and resistances with the new typing. It has a wide movepool to abuse this with as well, making it even more awesome. It can effectively run many different sets, including mixed, special, or physical.

Abilities:
Torrent. It raises the power of Water type attacks when below 1/3 HP. This sucks on Greninja and you should never use it. Protean is infinitely better.
Protean: Absolutely fantastic. It changes your type to be the same as the type of attacker you are using, giving you STAB on every move you use. This is amazing, and makes up for the fact that it's attack stats are sorta average, by giving every move a 1.5x boost.

Useful Moves and Items:
Night Slash
Waterfall
Rock Slide
Gunk Shot
Low Kick
Acrobatics
Power-Up Punch
Shadow Sneak
Water Shuriken
Ice Punch

Hydro Pump
Dark Pulse
Ice Beam
Grass Knot
Extrasensory
Hidden Power [Fire]


Substitute
Spikes
Toxic Spikes
Taunt


Choice Scarf
Choice Specs
Choice Band
Life Orb
Expert Belt
Liechi Berry
Leftovers


Example Sets:
Dark Pulse hits Psychics very hard. Hydro Pump is an option for Heatran, but the rest of your team should have a Water move, so run more coverage imo. Extrasensory hits Mega Venusaur. Ice Beam hits the Flying core hard. HP Fire for Scizor/Forretress/Ferrothorn or Grass Knot for Gastrodon/Quagsire/Swampert, also helps in the mirror matchup.


Low Kick is a new move it got with ORAS. It can use it to punish them Steel types for existing. Also hits Chansey decently hard, but misses the 2HKO with Expert Belt or LO. Still does ~40-45% with LO. Murders every Tyranitar ever. Gunk Shot hits Fairies hard, specifically Togekiss and Azumarill, who are very common. Night Slash is a Dark move for killing Psychics. Shadow Sneak is priority that hits Psychics hard as well or Water Shuriken is priority that can break Subs (kinda weak though, its recommended you don't run it, but it can be cool sometimes c:). Rock Slide or Ice Punch are further coverage options.


92 EVs guarantees the OHKO with Gunk Shot on Azumarilland Togekiss isrc (if scpinion remembers correctly ;) ). Once again, Ice Beam destroys Flying types. Extrasensory is option 1 in slot 3 for Mega Venusaur, or you can run Low Kick for Steels. Again, the choice between HP Fire and Grass Knot is Gastrodon/Swampert/Quagsire or Ferrothorn/Scizor/Forretress. Low Kick is also an option here, or Dark Pulse for Psychic types.

This is actually a good lead, but Water would generally prefer Greninja to attack and abuse Protean and his excellent speed and good attacking stats in a purely offensive role. Full speed is run to be as fast as possible. It will let you outspeed almost any other lead and Taunt them, including Infernape and Froslass. Spikes and Toxic Spikes are hazards, and Greninja can often get down 2 or 3 layers, especially when combined with Focus Sash. Focus Sash is preferred to guarantee you one layer of hazards, but Lefties is an option for recovery. U-Turn let's you pivot out to a wall. Full attack let's you hit hard here, and Greninja isn't that bulky anyway so it is better to invest attack to hurt something.

This set is underrated imo. It's easy to use. Sub until you get the Liechi boost then sweep. Sub is Sub. Acrobatics is a 110 base power Flying move after Liechi Berry activates--this also gets it to +1. Gunk Shot nails Fairies and Night Slash hits Psychic types. Other options include Shadow Sneak for some priority or Low Kick to hit Steel types that otherwise wall you pretty well. 12 HP gives it the Liechi boost after only 3 Subs, with full Jolly speed, and the rest in attack.


I'll edit the actual sets in later (I can't get on PS :[), those are a couple of the descriptions.


Overview: #LuckyLanturn is amazing. Volt Absorb is a great ability that gives it an immunity to Electric without a 4x weakness to Grass. It also has access to Heal Bell to assist walls such as Slowbro, Rotom-Wash, Alomomola, and Tentacruel if they get statused so they can stall more stuff, as well as curing burns and Paralysis on Pokemon such as Greninja, Keldeo, and Azumarill. It also has slow pivoting to bring in teammates safely.

Abilities: Water Absorb: Good enough, it offers an immunity, but it is not good on Lanturn on Water.
Illuminate: y u do dis
Volt Absorb: Absolutely fantastic, offers an immunity to Electric and gets healed by said immunity.

Useful moves and items:
Scald
Volt Switch
Hydro Pump
Ice Beam
Thunerbolt
Discharge

Toxic
Thunder Wave
Heal Bell
Confuse Ray


Example Sets:
This is really the only one Lanturn should run:

Heal Bell heals teammates. Volt Switch brings them in safely and keeps momentum. Thunderbolt or Discharge is also somewhat viable for more power or more parachance. Toxic or Thunder Wave is the status of your choice--cripple fast threats or put wall on a timer. Confuse Ray is also usable. Scald is recommended for burns, but Hydro Pump is usable for power. Ice Beam makes it have BoltBeam or pseudo BoltBeam. You could even run Confuse Ray in this slot with Thunder Wave for paraconfuse hax. You can run physically defensive or specially defensive sets.

I will do about 20, but I will edit them in later--my computer has a habit of deleting drafts when they get big, just before I'm gonna post, so I'm just gonna post this and edit in my analyses later.
 
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scpinion

Life > Monotype... unfortunately :)
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Do they cover up their weaknesses well?
Grass and Electric are Water's two weaknesses and the type has a variety of options to cover each. InfernapeTropius11 has them listed out above, so I'm not going to just rehash their list. I would like to draw particular attention to Swampert as an electric immunity, because it can perform well in a variety of roles. You can run physically-bulky sets that phaze, set hazards and spread status. Alternatively, it can work as an excellent offensive Pokemon, especially with its new Mega-evolution. As a whole, I think there is quite a bit of development that is possible around this Pokemon in the ORAS metagame.

What do they have an advantage against?
Water fares quite well in the overall metagame. The only types I routinely struggle with are Dragon and Grass. The Dragon is a result of my current team-build, while I refuse to team-build to beat Grass with Skymin in the metagame. It just requires too much to be dedicated to a single Pokemon, and then I can just get haxed to death. :) A well-built Water team actually has an advantage against most Electric teams. The advantage is magnified if Water runs Dragon Dance Mega-Gyarados.

Looking at the matchup stats, Water also seems to struggle with Flying. I would classify Water vs. Flying as 50/50 matchup. I almost always find my matches (that I play well in) coming down to the wire.

Does the variety help out during teambuilding, or is the pool of viable Pokemon surprisingly small?
Variety always helps in team building. :P It means you can run something other than the standard, generic sets/teams. I'd say Water has the 2nd largest pool of truly viable Pokemon behind Flying.

Please discuss your strategies, teams and whatever you can think of!
Well this is my 99th post, and I plan to do a post on the core that won the Battle of the Types for my 100th post, so I'll link that when its complete.

Link:http://www.smogon.com/forums/thread...t-136-for-updates.3519342/page-6#post-6041804
 
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Water is easily one of the best types in the meta, at the moment. A lot of that has to do with only having 2 weaknesses and 2 resistances other than itself. With the banning of skymin, water might become a broken type, with the banning of skymin water seems to have a better chance of beating grass, but the addition of contrary serperior might not affect the ban of skymin at all. It might affect the people who relied on the flinches from scarf skymin. >_>

Against Grass:
Sap sipper azumarill easily counters breloom.
To counter venusaur-mega: you have tentacruel and greninja.
Substitute contrary serperior is very hard to deal with, greninja could help.

In my opinion the best mega pokemon water has, has to be sharpedo-mega, the reason for that, is that it can easily beat the other two top types, them being flying and psychic. Adamant mega sharpedo can easily ohko 4/6 pokemons in a generic psychic type. Some exceptions being slowbro which is a 2hko. Also sharpedo can easily ruin a flying team the only problem is that sharpedo cannot kill skarmory on its own.

Dragon has a resistance to water but water can deal with dragons fairly well because many water run ice moves and sharpedo-mega can damage a dragon team fairly well.

A pokemon that teams up with sharpedo-mega really well has to be Keldeo. To be specific specs keldeo. Specs keldeo and sharpedo-mega are a very good offensive duo. Specs keldeo being the sp attacker and sharpedo being the physical attacker.

To counter them opponents try to paralyze them so running heal bell on lanturn would be a good idea to cure their status. And it provides an electric immunity.
 
Ok so like I did last week with Flying I'll add a few of Water types biggest threats in the monotype meta.

As we all know the types Water are disadvantageous against are Electric and Grass. However out of those two Grass presents far more of a problem to Water. Water has a few ways that it can deal with Electric mainly through the use of Water/Ground Pokemon (Mainly Swampert and Quagsire) and also Pokemon such as Lanturn (For Volt Absorb) and also through the use of SpDef walls such as Tentacruel, Rotom-W and Empoleon, however the first two are the preferred option.

Swampert @ Leftovers Swampert @ Swampertite​
Ability: Damp Ability: Damp
EVs: 240 HP / 16 Atk / 252 Def EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Relaxed Nature Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock - Rain Dance
- Earthquake - Waterfall
- Scald - Earthquake
- Protect - Ice Punch

Lanturn @ Leftovers Tentacruel @ Black Sludge
Ability: Volt Absorb Ability: Liquid Ooze
EVs: 40 HP / 252 Def / 216 SpD EVs: 224 HP / 252 Def / 32 Spe
Calm Nature Bold Nature
- Scald -Scald
- Volt Switch -Rapid Spin
- Heal Bell -Acid Spray
- Thunder Wave -Knock Off/Sludge Bomb

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers/Choice Scarf Empoleon @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate Ability: Torrent
EVs: 248 HP / 216 SpD / 44 Spe EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature Calm Nature
- Volt Switch -Scald
- Hydro Pump -Toxic
- Will-O-Wisp -Protect/Ice Beam
- Pain Split/Trick -Defog/Stealth Rocks

Quagsire @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Scald
- Earthquake
- Recover
- Toxic

And while Water may struggle more against Grass, it still has some Pokemon, both offensively and defensively, that can help deal with they type. Namely Sap Sipper Azumarill, Tentacruel, Greninja, Kingdra and Gyarados all play their part in walling/attacking Grass types.

Azumarill @ Assault Vest/Choice Band Kingdra @ Life Orb
Ability: Sap Sipper Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD/Spe EVs: 80 HP / 252 SpA / 176 Spe
Adamant Nature Modest Nature
-Waterfall -Hydro Pump
-Play Rough -Draco Meteor
-Aqua Jet -Ice Beam
-Knock Off/Superpower -Dragon Pulse

Greninja @ Life Orb/Expert Belt Gyarados @ Leftovers
Ability: Protean Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP or 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe EVs: 100 HP / 252 Atk / 84 Def / 4 SpD / 68 Spe
or 92 Atk / 164 SpA / 252 Spe Jolly Nature
Timid/Hasty Nature -Waterfall
- Grass Knot/U-turn/Gunk Shot/Rock Slide -Thunder Wave
- Extrasensory -Earthquake/Ice Fang
- Ice Beam -Taunt
- Surf/Hydro Pump/Scald

But these are only checks to the following Pokemon, which given the chance can almost singlehandedly tear apart Water Monotypes


Breloom:
Breloom @ Focus Sash/Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly/Adamant Nature
- Spore
- Bullet Seed
- Mach Punch
- Rock Tomb



This punching mushroom can be an absolute menace to Water mono's with it's Technician set, which with a combination of Spore, Bullet Seed and Mach Punch can destroy pretty much any Water team. The general gist of this set is to come in on a KO (or possibly as a lead), either force out or outspeed the opponent and then put to sleep with Spore and proceed to attack. Most Breloom's will go straight into Bullet Seed but some may predict a switch to Gyarados and use Technician Rock Tomb to really hurt it. And with the Speed drop from Rock Tomb, Breloom will usually get off the next shot too.

This Pokemon can be hard to counter for a Water mono but fortunately there is a counter for it. Sap Sipper Azumarill can switch into both Spore and Bullet Seed and thus gain a boost in attack. This can then be used to shift the momentum of the match



Mega Venusaur:
Venusaur @ Venusaurite
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 HP / 240 SpDef/Def / 16 Spe
Bold/Calm Nature
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Synthesis
- Hidden Power Fire

Ahhh the almighty Swag Plant, one of the more difficult ones to take down especially for a Water mono. This Pokemon can wreck just as hard as Breloom and is twice as tough to get rid of. Great HP and defensive stats coupled with Thick Fat make this a nightmare for any Water trainer to deal with. Giga Drain wrecks anything on water that isn't named Tentacruel or Empoleon but sadly there is little either of those Pokemon can do back. Being unabled to be Toxiced makes getting rid of this weed especially difficult with Water relying on Extrasensory Greninja or gimmicks such as Bounce Gyarados to take it out. Getting a burn on the plant can make it easier to take down but with reliable recovery outside of SS Water, the burn damage can be healed of easily.


Ferrothorn:
Ferrothorn @ Rocky Helmet/Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD or
252 HP / 172 Atk / 84 Def
Brave Nature
- Power Whip/Thunder Wave
- Gyro Ball/Iron Head
- Leech Seed
- Protect/Stealth Rock/Spikes

This spiked fiend is a proverbial thorn in the toe of Water mono's everywhere... It can be an absolute bane because it actually works better in the rain because its 4x weakness has now been semi-nullified. It can switch into pretty much every move on any water team except Keldeo's Secret Sword and Azumarill's Superpower. These two moves are by far the easiest way to take down this thorned annoyance. Tentacruel can also help in this instance due to Liquid Ooze. It can then proceed to burn Ferro through Scald and then let the residual damge slowly build up until Ferrothorn is KO'd. However good players will not let it come to this and switch out, which can give you a chance to gain momentum



Thundurus-I:
Thundurus @ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Taunt
- Thunderbolt/Volt Switch
- Grass Knot/Hidden Power Ice

Thundurus @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 76 Atk / 180 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Knock Off
- Superpower
- Grass Knot/Hidden Power Ice

Thundurus-Incarnate is one, if not, the best offensive Prankster user in the game. Due to it's trolly speed tier it can effectively shut down sweepers before they can even think of tearing up teams, which can then switch the momentum in your favour. And that's not the only attractive thing about it. Due to the coverage of Tbolt and Grass Knot there are no Pokemon in any Water mono that can wall it. You're best bet to take this beast down is to get a special wall such as Empoleon to tank a few hits and then KO back with Ice Beam. However Thundurus can also act as a check to Defog Empoleon too. With it's mixed set, Thundurus can switch into a Defiant, collect the boost and then KO with Tbolt or Superpower. It is an incredibly versatile mon that can sweep through Water monotypes if left unchecked

Now these are not the only Pokemon that can walk through/wall Water monotypes. Pokemon such as Contrary Serp, Zapdos and other Pokemon can all give Water monotypes grief, but with the right strategy and careful playmaking, these threats can be accounted for and then KO'd
 
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Snaquaza

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The third type will be Steel!

I'll just quote the OP as people tend to answer the questions I post here.

  • Which types does this type have a disadvantage against?
  • Which types does this type have an advantage against?
  • Which Pokemon help cover the type's weaknesses?
  • What plays can you make to win against threats to your team of this type?
  • What sets can be run to check certain threats?
  • What different EV spreads are used to help against certain types/Pokemon?
  • How does this type fare in the Monotype metagame?
Also, Steel is a very defensive type. It resists 11 types and is only weak to 3. It's mediocre offensively on first sight, only SE on Rock, Fairy and Ice. Only one of them is really relevant! It also can't hit common types as Water, Fire and other Steels. Do these resistances give Steel an advantage and can it get past its few weaknesses? How does it go offensively?
 
Ok sorry about the late summary but I've been a bit busy with a few things.

Anyway better late than never, so without further adieu...

Week 2: Water
Water has been said to be one of the most versatile monotypes due to a large number of Pokemon that are available to it. With huge offensive threats such as Greninja, Keldeo and Azumarill tied in with the defensive prowess or Tentacruel, Slowbro and Alomomola along with a huge selection of Pokemon inbetween make Water one of the hardest types to deal with.

But even with all these boons, Water can still have a hard time against some types, notably Dragon and Grass. Dragon gives Water a hard time by resisting most STAB moves and hitting back relatively hard. Azumarill can play a huge part in this matchup but can be checked by Kyu-B and Dragalge. While most Water types have access to quite a few coverage moves and general bulk to make up from these deficiencies they can still be left high and dry by a lack of general speed in most Water types.

Grass is also in the same boat as Water except potentially more dangerous. Outside of Sap Sipper Azu and a small handful of others, there are very few Water mons that can take multiple hits from Grass without flinching. Pokemon such as Tentacruel and Empoleon play a very big part in this matchup being able to tank hits and then hit back either passively or aggressively. On the offensive side Greninja leads the way firing out STAB Ice Beams usually before any Grass Pokemon can reply although you will need to watch out for Sash Breloom. Also most other fast Water mons with a decent Ice move can also hurt most Grass types to overcome this disadvantage.

Except for disadvantages against Water (Such as Ground, Rock and sometimes Fire) Water has fairly neutral battles against every other type which can make it a great type to ladder with. When you add these factors in with a great typing and a huge diversity of Pokemon to choose from, all of this adds up to the fact that Water is a very formidable type to go up against and should always be thought of and/or prepared for in teambuilding
 

InfernapeTropius11

get on my level
What types does this type have a disadvantage against?
Steel is disadvantaged against Ground, Fire, Fighting, Water, and Flying, but none of these are unwinnable. For ground, you have Skarmory and Ferrothorn although it is difficult to win once these two are gone, as Excadrill can demolish you. You have a better shot vs. Fire, as they are weak to SR, and Heatran is immune to Fire with access to Ancient Power and Earth Power to hurt them with. Empoleon is also pretty specially bulky, and has STAB Water moves. Fighting has an obvious advantage as they are SE on Steel with powerful, fast Pokemon such as Terrakion, Keldeo, Mega Gallade, and Infernape, but Jirachi, Mega Metagross and Doublade help in this matchup, the first two with a neutrality and STAB Zen Headbutt, and the latter with an immunity. Water has an advantage against Steel for a few reasons. First of all, they resist Steel. Secondly, Keldeo can sweep Steel easily with the proper support. Mega Swampert outspeeds and can hurt your whole team in Rain with Waterfall and EQ, or Mega Gyarados can boost before sweeping you with Crunch/Waterfall/EQ. Flying has a variety of Pokemon that can hit hard or wall you to death, including Lando-T, Lando-I, Gliscor, Torn-T, Thundy-I, Thundy-T, Noivern, Dragonite, Gyarados, Zapdos, Zard Y, Zard X, Mega Altaria, Skarmory, and Hawlucha, all of whom usually carry a move SE on Steel, or who can wall common Steel types or resist Steel.
What types does this type have an advantage against?
Rock, Ice, and Fairy are easily swept by Steel. Mega Metagross and Scizor with Bullet Punch can completely wreak havoc on these types, and you still have four other Pokemon to pick off the remaining Pokemon who survive the onslaught from those two. Grass also usually loses as you resist their STABs, and Heatran exists. Steel has a great chance of winning in many other matchups as well due to its variety of resistances and the number of bulky Pokemon it has access to, as well offensive threats. Oops, I forgot about Psychic and Ghost, who can be swept by Bisharp if you bring it in and set up at the right time

What Pokemon help cover this type's weaknesses?

Fire:

Heatran is a staple on Steel as Flash Fire grants it an immunity to Fire type attacks. It also is well equipped to nail these Pokemon back hard with Earth Power and Ancient Power coming off of a base 130 SpA. Empoleon is also neutral to Fire with Water STABs to help wear down the opposing team. Offensively, Mega Metagross has EQ, as does Excadrill. Pretty much every Steel type learns Stealth Rock to pressure the opposing team and get goodchip damage in. Many steel types also learn Rock Slide or Stone Edge for coverage against Fire types.
AIR BALLOON

Ground:
Skarmory is immune and Ferrothorn is neutral to Ground. Air Balloon Heatran and Magnezone are also viable options to bypass this weakness (at least temporarily). Power Whip on Ferrothorn hits decently hard, especially off of the rare, but still pretty good, Choice Band set. HP Ice is viable (and usually recommended) on Magnezone and Offensive Heatran for Ground types. Mega Metagross gets Ice Punch. Empoleon still has its Water STABs :>

Fighting:
Doublade is immune and Metagross, Jirachi, Mawile, and Klefki are all neutral to Fighting. MegaGross+Jirachi have STAB Zen Headbutt to abuse, and Klefki/Mawile have their Fairy STABs. Skarmory is also very helpful here as it is also neutral to Fighting and has Brave Bird to hurt weakened threats. Bronzong, Forretress, Durant, and Escavalier are also neutral to Fighting and Bronzong has Psychic STAB, but they are more niche options.

What plays can you make to win against threats to your team?
Once again, the biggest thing here is smart switching. Steel has the infamous immunity core and so switching between Pokemon to cover your weaknesses is usually easy to do--just make sure to predict properly lol.

What sets can be run to check certain threats?
One of the easily most customizable Pokemon on Steel is Heatran. It can effectively run a variety of sets including Special wall, Air Balloon, Rocks lead, Magma Storm trapper, Spec. Wallbreaker, and Scarf revenge killer. Hell, some people even go mixed with Heatran and it is a viable option as well. AV Jirachi is another great Pokemon to check Keldeo, who can sweep Steel given half a chance. Band Ferrothorn hits like a truck and is rare/unpredictable if you wanna try that out. Gyro Ball+Knock Off+Power Whip offers neat utility against neutral matchups such as Ghost and Water while also helping against Psychic and Ground.

What different EV spreads can be used to help against certain threats/Pokemon?
I don't know the exact EVs, but there is an AV Jirachi set that helps vs. Keldeo (a big threat to Steel). I don't use Steel very often, but I am sure there are other sets Steel players use to check certain threats.

How does this type fare in the monotype metagame?
It is an amazing type to use, with a variety of bulky, fast, strong Pokemon. It has very few disadvantageous matchups and almost always wins against least 4 types. It is a very good type in the current monotype metagame, and you must always be prepared to fight it.
 
Ok after a lengthy period of inactivity we've compiled enough information to be able to move onto the 4th type. But first a summary on the

3rd Type: Steel
Boasting what is arguably one of the most defensive types avaliable, Steel has proven itself to be one of the best types in the current metagame. It has the famous immunity core which consists of Heatran (Air Balloon for Pseudo Ground Immunity) for Fire type moves and Skarmory for Ground and neutrality on Fighting. Eviolite Doublade can also be thrown into the mix for a complete immunity for Fighting if you'd choose to run it. However due to high natural defences and great dual typings, many Steel mons are great defensively. Ferrothorn, Klefki, Empoleon, Forretress and Bronzong area few examples of such Pokemon.

However while Steels Defensive core is certainly amazing it also has access to potent attackers too, some of who can sweep entire teams unaided. Pokemon such as Mega Metagross, Scarf Mold Breaker Excadrill, Mega and Normal Scizor, Bisharp, Magnezone, Jirachi, Empoleon all are valid mons for which Steel can go offensive with.

Now while Steel has a great defensive build to work around, it can be left horribly weak to a few major threats in the tier. Pokemon such as Keldeo, Sand Rush Excadrill, Mega Charizard X and Y, Infernape, Mega Lopunny, Nidoking and Landorus-Incarnate and also Therian to a lesser extent. They all have the ability to break through certain Steel type mons which can leave Steel's defensive core with a huge gap.

But even though Steel has a few weaknesses to deal with (mainly lack of specially defensive mons) it is still a thriving monotype that is more that capable of dealing with all its threats if played correctly
 
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Snaquaza

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The next type will be Bug!
Bug has many good threats like Scizor, Pinsir, Heracross and Volcarona, but they have an annoying Stealth Rock weakness, as well as other common weaknesses. How do they fix these and how can they find out what runs the coveted Mega Stone, since they got many competitors! Chat about these questions and whatever you think is related to Bug, or the questions from the OP. I hope this week will be more active, since this project shouldn't go to waste!
 


Bug-type Represent !


Bug is the greatest type. Not only because of the fact that they are bugs but also because of its pure and righteous trainers. If you see someone battling with bug its mainly because it is their favorite type and they commit to it. Obviously their are those who try out the bug in a collective attempt to master all of the types and you can tell the difference when you battle them.. But unlike alot of types were their are evident apexes in the type in terms of raw potential, (genesect) their often not used because of the mindset and mentality of the bug trainer who often makes unique sets with the pokemon that they actually like and love, NOT the pokemon favouritised because of the raw potential or strength..
Bug-type also offers unique possibilities in terms of lower tiered monotype branches. This is because of the many bug-type pokes with very unique and amazing moovepools in which unfortunetly, just arnt viable in the regular monotype teir.

Using Bug's in my opinion isn't straight forward. Because of the many different styles and ways to utilize bugs in which invoke specific mental attitudes , they can always be tweaked slightly or refined in some aspect for different situations. In which, enable them to vary and evolve in different ways depending on the trainers own mind.

Weaknesses / Defenses

The 2 biggest flaws with bug before mega's was their it was statistically the weakest type and their susceptibility to hazards. Now because of the statistics if you were a bug trainer back in gen4 gen5 or even before, you were forced to implement alot of weird,risky,unorthodox plays to counteract and even be viable and keep up pace with a lot of things.. Unfortunately due to the very nature of these counter measures you would be switching out constantly in order to predict/counter your opponent.. And if rocks or any other hazards for that matter were up.. You would simply get worn down regardless of the perfect plays you may be making in terms of your teams composition and checking/walling potential.
Getting rid of hazards is often the BIGGEST thing you have to worry about when using bug. It was much more crucial to eliminate hazards previously when talonflame was around when the few bug trainers evolved to counter it, the counters relied on bulk,sturdy or a sash. and obviously all 3 of these things can ultimately be made redundant if a battle turns into a switching war and your forced to take damage. IF this happens you will loose do to residual damage build up.
Often when you see sashed galvantula.. its a remnant of that error...make no mistake.. Alot of bug trainers had absolutely no problem with talonflame..
Even now though Hazards stand clear as bugs biggest weakness and not the prevalence of rock,ground and fire type moves present in gen6.

Choosing your Rapid spinner/defog user is the biggest choice when building a bug a team. I have 12 viable bug teams, 1 for each of the 6 main tiers and 2 of which im still refining. And in each teir rapid spin users/defog users are essential. Their are a few types of bug teams that can go without a defog user or spinner. But i assure you if the batle gets drawn out, you'l loose because of residual damage.
Now without any dout the Greatest 2 rapid spinners in my opinion that stand out are Armaldo and Forretress . I wont get into the specifics of rapid spinners to much as i believe each and everyone should choose their own personally and devolop it as your team will grow from that point and you should always be original in that aspect.
But these are two examples: One is my favourite type of forretress, the other, My UU armaldo.


@ Red Card @ Assult vest
Ability: Sturdy ability:Battle Armor
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def EVs: 204 Atk / 252 Def / 52 Spd
Adamant Nature Adamant nature
- Rapid Spin Rapid spin
- Stealth Rock Rock slide
- Spikes Knock off
- Explosion Aqua jet


Now this forretress has a red card to ensure that if a pokemon has managed to set up on me often, if done correctly, you can trick it into attacking it and with sturdy if played correct with the right support it will eliminate this problem. Very similar counter plays in terms of red card can obviously be implemented because of it and this is a standard Forretress is my favorite poke for a spinner because of the style of play it creates. For example as a lead or a secondary lead if you expect your opponent to lead witha taunter, you can lay down rocks when able and often counter with a 1hko with explosion not only killing a poke ( if done right you can almost choose which one) but you also immidiatly change the tone of your opponent to what you want it to be. I use this armaldo and forretress together on my UU monotype team. This forretress is what i would recommend however for standard teams give or take explosion or its ev's depending on how you team is built. AGAIN, if you didn't read it, dont just cookie cut your rapid spinner from someone else cause you will soon realize if you do, that it doesn't fit into the rest of the pokes you may have chosen. So develop one yourself.
Their are also defog users dont forget, yanmega scizor aswell as alot of other bug types can infact learn defog. But this is much easier said than done because composing a bug team that works well with a defog user is very hard to conduct correctly and effectively in battle.But, it can be done.

Due to its obviousness i feel mentioning type weaknesses are rather irrelevant personally, but do keep them in mind because a well placed rock/fire offensive pokemon could sweep your entire team if you have allowed hazards up. As also could a well placed armaldo, crustle for example, be used to block and counter these offensives. So think carefully about the meta-game you wish to battle with your bugs within before making a team because in even tier your bug team will be facing different key dangers.

A few pokemon can be used in ways to prevent a sweep and encourage defensive walls and defensive redirection. Illumise is my favorite. You could also use a tanky armaldo with its rock type to resist fire moves and counter with a knock off to cripple or a rockslide to k0. You could use a shuckle again with its rock typing to resist and counter. But more often than not you will be using some sort of semi-support to hopefully prevent those situations from arising completely. Bug type cores will vary from person to person, but generally sit around your rapid spinner/ defoger and general that pokemon is either extremely fast or incredibly tank in some aspect to resist and enable you to do what you need to.

Offensive capabilities !


Now i have never shared my bug teams before as i'm a firm believer that each individual should create their own team with their own favorite pokemon and work them in a way in which they become viable and effective in whichever way they choose to use their respective pokemon in. With this said for the sake of examples and the range of offensive plays these are my two favorite regular monotype teams ^.^




(Galvantula) (F) @ Focus Sash

Ability: Compound Eyes

Shiny: Yes

EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

Timid Nature

IVs: 30 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe

- Energy Ball

- Thunder

- Sticky Web

- Bug Buzz


(Volcarona) (F) @ Choice Scarf

Ability: Flame Body

EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

Timid Nature

- Bug Buzz

- Fiery Dance

- Hidden Power [Ice]

- Hurricane


(Forretress) (M) @ Red Card

Ability: Sturdy

Shiny: Yes

EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def

Adamant Nature

- Rapid Spin

- Stealth Rock

- Spikes

- Explosion

(Illumise) (F) @ Focus Sash

Ability: Prankster

Shiny: Yes

EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD

Bold Nature

- Thunder Wave

- Confuse Ray

- Wish

- Rain Dance


(Heracross) (M) @ Choice Scarf

Ability: Moxie

EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

Adamant Nature

- Megahorn

- Close Combat

- Earthquake

- Rock Slide


(Scizor) (M) @ Scizorite

Ability: Technician

EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 SpD

Adamant Nature

- Swords Dance

- Bullet Punch

- Bug Bite

- Aerial Ace


This particular team has been used with miner adjustments as my main bug team since gen5.
It uses a Mega- Scizor as a mega aswell as the almighty powerful, legendary, Queen of queens, Illumise.
Let me first start of by adressing the obvious. If you wanna start dissing illumise find me. I will battle you, Bugg rep.
Now primarily Illumise is only a support to counter act plays in which have enabled hazards to placed on my side, to cripple a potential problem, to aid in the assult of volcaronas hurricane,galvantulas thunder and even to suppress the power of fire type attacks with rain dance. IT can also be used to create an element of hax in which can often unnerve your opponent in real life. I use it alot for a prelude for my mega scizor.

The Scarfed Volcarona , a rare sight but one of which i've been using for a long time.And my favorite unorthodox bug i have been using for a long time. It can be a great lead to 1hk0 alot of pokemon, a great revenge killer. as well as a late game sweeper.
The web capabilities immediately offer a great chance for quick kills with either of the duel scarfers.
This bug-type composition however, was specifically designed for OU, NOT monotype . Keep this in mind. But it can be perfectly rewired for Regular monotype for me at least.
The combination of illumise and semi support galvantula can project a bug-type composition in which creates an efficient style of battle in which is programmed to be short but sweet (within 25 turns), now while this style of bug team can be used as such it is not a hyper offensive team and can in fact be used as a semi stall team with wish pass-over to restore counters and plays.



Scarab king (Heracross) (M) @ Choice Scarf

Ability: Moxie

EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe

Adamant Nature

- Close Combat

- Earthquake

- Rock Slide

- Megahorn


Gold member (Forretress) @ Red Card

Ability: Sturdy

Shiny: Yes

EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def

Adamant Nature

- Stealth Rock

- Explosion

- Spikes

- Rapid Spin


Daimyo Ryuuma (Scizor) @ Scizorite

Ability: Technician

EVs: 252 Atk / 252 SpD

Adamant Nature

- Bullet Punch

- Swords Dance

- Aerial Ace

- Bug Bite


red lotus (Volcarona) @ Choice Scarf

Ability: Flame Body

EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

Timid Nature

- Fiery Dance

- Hidden Power [Ice]

- Bug Buzz

- Hurricane


Hellz Harlot (Vivillon) @ Focus Sash

Ability: Compound Eyes

EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe

Timid Nature

- Hurricane

- Energy Ball

- Sleep Powder

- Quiver Dance


Poison Dart (Scolipede) @ Life Orb

Ability: Speed Boost

EVs: 180 Atk / 76 Def / 252 SpD

Adamant Nature

- Earthquake

- X-Scissor

- Rock Slide

- Protect


This team again is very similar to the team i showed before and was made purely because i wanted to make a different type of bug team that i felt was still viable in ou but in which i could use mainly in monotype. That is always how i look at my bug teams. This particular tanky set on scolipede changes the composition of the entire team to somewhat to a small-hyper offensive team because it now no longer is allowing the back up measures of web and illumise as support and it relies heavily on the plays made offensively to create your ideal situations. These distinct varying style of bug-type battling is just few of the many.

One of the extremely obvious things that stand out and has gotten a bad rap is Mega pinser.
It is extremely strong and has a boosted priority move. Because of this if you are just getting into bug-type this is immediately the first thing most people hear about and what imo most flock to. Their is nothing wrong with using a pinser or mega pinser if you like it, I don't however because i dont like stag beetles ^.^

Hyper Offensive bug team for example can be extremely effective aswell, iv met a few bug-trainers whom can use hyper offensive bug teams extremely well, but i can not speak on their behalf as i am not a hyper offensive bug-type user it simply isn't my style.

Bugs Mega-stones

Bug does have a lot of mega stone possibilities and generally whichever one you choose to lead your mighty bug team into battle with, will generally be the axis to which your team revolves around. If you choose mega heracross ( for example ), your more likely than not going to be basing your mentality around web support and its capabilities. If you choose mega pinser your more lickly to be thinking more of residual damage or even a baton pass/ weekness counters to aid you in your battle. And with my experience if you use mega scizor you'l be orientated around a defensive style of counter plays.
Now obviously these can vary from person to person but these slight mental differences adopted by your bug mega filter down to yourself almost immediately in terms of your preferred style and tactics. Often both your style and play show what mega you'll choose for bug at least and "vise-versa".

Theirs alot of pokemon that can aid your chosen mega and overall your team. so dont just cookie cut your team from someone else.
Because of the many many different dangers provided from bugs theirs soo many different directions to go in and one must never forget genesect, as it is extremely strong and its possibilities are very much formidable. But, you must consider your entire team before trying to use and this is why often it is left out of teams. To use genesect effectively you must contemplate the correct time to send it in in order to maximize its potential from its ability download. This aspect leads one to contemplate different situations in which one may create in which lures out your proffered pokemon to download on and boost into. This mental angel of advanced luring and baiting can be risky and may often lead you genesect into undesirable situations. But again genesect is extremely strong so dont disregard it just yet.


Now i have talked alot about mental and psychological implications and aspects of play concerning bug tactics because i believe that is their key. It was previously the statistical weakest type and may even be soo still without mega's. But this means you must use increasingly different methods in order to win against an evolving field of steel and flying types ... -.- lol

This is just my small mainframe in terms of bug-types and that is all it is. If you are passionate about your type like i am , you'll know its hard to say anything about it other than "i love it" and for me their is no other way.

From semi supporting singuarly offensive scolipedes with megahorn/poisen jab and baton pass, too eviolite bulky technician Scyther, bug-type is a very amazing type with increadible potential for not only regular monotype use but also for intergration of its monotype capabilties into the lower and higher type tiers.
 
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At first glance, the Bug type might seem horrible. The first Bugs you'd think of are probably those Route 1 bugs like Caterpie and stuff. Not to mention, weak to Stealth Rocks and weak to the most popular type in the meta, Flying. But a closer look will let you see what Bug can really do.

Bug's Disadvantageous Match-Ups

Fire, Flying, and Steel are Bug's biggest threats. However, Ground seems to also be quite good against Bug.

Fire beating Bug shouldn't really surprise anyone. Bug STAB gets weakened, and Fire STAB hurts more. Scizor also becomes completely useless due to being too slow to be able to hit anything before it gets burned or Flamethrowered and Bullet Punch getting resisted. Volcarona is made helpless by Heatran if you don't carry Hidden Power Ground. Heracross helps a lot against Fire with Stone Edge and Earthquake in its arsenal. Armaldo too thanks to being able to live a Fire Blast from Mega Charizard Y with Assault Vest. You must make sure to take out Torkoal first though, since Torkoal will stop any sweep you wanted.

Flying also comes as no surprise. Galvantula, Armaldo, Genesect, and Heracross help a bit, but it's still a tough struggle. This is thanks to Skarmory and Zapdos making such a great defensive core and Mega Charizard X being very hard to take out. Those three Pokemon make playing against Flying incredibly frustrating. Want to take out Zapdos with a physical attack? Skarmory's got its back. Skarmory with a special attack? Zapdos will take that. Trying to go up against Mega Charizard X when it's at +1? Don't even try. There's nothing you can do if Mega Charizard X gets a Dragon Dance up and this is why Bug vs Flying is so tough.

Steel vs Bug is also hard for Bug. Skarmory's back with a new partner, Heatran. Heatran once again makes Scizor and Volcarona useless. Really, Skarmory makes every physical attacker on Bug not useful. Magnezone walls Galvantula. Your first priority should be to take out Heatran as soon as possible, then sweep with Volcarona. The hard part is actually taking Heatran out. I like to strike with any move at all in case of Air Balloon, then hit it with an Earthquake or Close Combat from Heracross. But Skarmory's there too, so you have to play smartly.

Not really sure what makes Ground vs Bug so hard. I blame Hippowdon, Gastrodon, and Excadrill. Hippowdon makes physical attacks seem like a joke, and Gastrodon tanks Ice Beams from Genesect like a boss. It doesn't help that Excadrill hits like a truck with Rock Slide, Earthquake and Iron Head. You'd once again, have to play it smart and take out Hippowdon so Sandstorm goes away. Next, Gastrodon is a bit tougher to take out, but with enough Energy Balls from Galvantula, you might be able to KO it eventually. Excadrill's no longer threatening without Sandstorm. I recommend Genesect with Ice Beam to take out most of Ground and Galvantula for Gastrodon. Stealth Rocks are incredibly annoying here though, so make sure you keep those off your field.

There's two other slightly disadvantageous match-ups for Bug and that's against Electric and Fairy. Electric because Zapdos is such a tank and Thundurus-I likes to paralyze stuff. I'd recommend Genesect for the job and Heracross. Fairy because of Klefki, Togekiss, and Azumarill. Klefki Thunder Waves everything, Togekiss has Flamethrower and incredible flinchhax, and Azumarill is amazing with its sweeping capabilities. Galvantula is useful for Azumarill and Togekiss, and once Azumarill and Diancie's out, Volcarona can try beating Klefki. Scizor can sweep most of Fairy if not for Klefki. Foul Play really punishes you for setting up unless you're at +4 and Reflect isn't up.

Bug's Advantageous Match-Ups

Ice is Bug's most advantageous match-up and it's not hard to see why. Having to have to go through Volcarona, Heracross, Genesect, and especially Scizor is very tough.

Other than that, Fighting, Grass, and Poison are also positive match-ups for Bug.

Fighting has no amazing way of keeping hazards off the field. Since it's a very sweeper-type type, Sticky Web would be very bad for Fighting. Stealth Rock also takes away any Focus Sashes that Fighting types sometimes carry.

Grass should be obvious. Easily sweeped by any Pokemon if Ferrothorn and Mega Venusaur are taken out.

I'm actually not quite sure why Poison is a positive match-up. In all my matches against Poison(and there weren't that many and the majority of which were against a guy named kekskuremmel, who's really good), I had troubles because Tentacruel and Weezing. Could someone fill me in please?

Bug is quite an offensive type from what I've seen. Many of their Pokemon are made to be offensive(for example, Scizor, Heracross, Volcarona, etc.) The few defensive Pokemon that you have are all there to help you sweep as best you can.

Plays You Could Make Against Threats

U-Turn Genesect is important. If you feel your opponent switches his Skarmory out into Zapdos or Heatran, use U-Turn and switch into your counter or check accordingly. Rapid Spin is important as well. However, save it if you feel your opponent's gonna switch Skarmory in or Torkoal or Hippowdon. There's not a whole lot else. Predict well and you can win.

Sets You Can Use To Check Stuff



Ra(M)@Leftovers
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 144 HP, 252 Def, 112 Spe
Bold Nature
-Quiver Dance
-Roost
-Whirlwind
-Fiery Dance

So this set is pretty wacky. Those Speed EVs are for outspeeding non-Scarfed max Speed Crobat, the fastest threat to Bug I can think of. The main niche about this is Whirlwind. This is for other Volcarona, which believe it or not, is a threat of its own. Set up Quiver Dances alongside the enemy Volcarona, then when it just sets up to +6, hit it with a Whirlwind. As long as you don't bring out Mega Pinsir, you're fine. Note: This won't work against Scarf Volcarona which, may I add, is a viable choice. You can tweak the EVs and nature for your purposes.

Ra(M)@Leftovers
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 240 HP, 252 Def, 16 Spe
Timid Nature
-Quiver Dance
-Roost
-Fiery Dance
-Bug Buzz/Hidden Power Ground/Giga Drain

Standard BulkyRona with added moves you can stick in. Bug Buzz is standard STAB stuff, Hidden Power Ground is for those nasty Heatrans which would wall Volcarona to no end otherwise, and Giga Drain which Bug DOES struggle with, but not as much as with Steel's Heatran.

There's not much variety with sets in Bug other than with Volcarona. You could put max HP, max Atk EVs into Scizor so you could live a Foul Play from Klefki at +2 and still 2HKO it.

Other Pokemon And Sets



Mega Heracross works really well with Sticky Web. Along with Scolipede, it can really wreck a lot of teams.

Stag(M)@Heracronite
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk, 4 SpDef, 252 Speed
Adamant Nature
-Close Combat
-Rock Blast
-Bullet Seed
-Pin Missile/Swords Dance

As I said, put it together with Sticky Webs and Scolipede and you've got a beast. Mega Heracross also fixes any problems you could've had against Water. Swords Dance is there if you desire more power to beat any Pokemon that might be too bulky to OHKO like Skarmory.


Lord Claw(M)@Leftovers
Ability: Battle Armor
EVs: 252 HP, 4 Atk, 252 Def
Impish Nature
-Rapid Spin
-Stone Edge
-Knock Off
-Stealth Rock

Want to put a bit of punch into your non-Galvantula lead? Use this Armaldo set. It still hits hard even with no investment and you get your Rapid Spinning and Stealth Rocks too.



Clothes Man(M)@Life Orb/Focus Sash
Ability: Swarm
EVs: 252 Atk, 4 SpDef, 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
-Leaf Blade
-X-Scissor
-Heal Bell
-Synthesis

As lab8 moth said above me, using some of our favourite Pokemon can be very fun and here's one of my personal favourites. Leavanny is one of those Route 1 Bug Pokemon, and it isn't really used much. This Gen, its main niche is Sticky Web which Galvantula does much better. So instead of using that, I pulled something out of Gen 5--a Heal Bell supporter. It's useful if you happen to get any statuses on your sweepers. Leavanny also has a pretty good Speed and Attack stat.



Rook(M)@Focus Sash
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 252 SpAtk, 4 SpDef, 252 Spe
Timid Nature
-Bug Buzz
-Final Gambit
-Giga Drain/Energy Ball/Focus Blast
-Spikes

Accelgor can be a quick suicide lead. Final Gambit helps. There's a Choice Specs set that replaces Final Gambit with Focus Blast and Spikes with Sludge Bomb.

How Bug Is In The Monotype Metagame

Bug is one of the best offensively-based types. Unfortunately, the defensive types are Steel and Flying--some of the most popular types. Bug manages to hold its own against most other types though(with the exception of Ground and Fire).

Other Stuff Before I End Off

Why was there no mention of Mega Pinsir or Mega Beedrill? That's because bias. Mega Pinsir is quite like Mega Charizard X in some ways. If it gets a Swords Dance up, it'll be very hard to fight back against it. As for Mega Beedrill...it was quite a disappointment when I tested it out. I found it to be strong, but absolute garbage at taking hits. It's one of those Pokemon like Lucario where if you don't KO, you get KO'd. However, it's worse with Mega Beedrill because of its awful Defense, priority moves kill it easily.

There's so many Bug types, but there's so many horrible ones. Pro tip: Don't use Wormadam, most of the butterflies, and that ladybug. Especially not the ladybug. It's adorable, but it's just so bad. And finally, please, please, please don't use Shedinja. It sounds good on paper, but Stealth Rock is a lot more common in Monotype. It's not worth a slot on your team. Unless, of course, you really like the Pokemon...then that's different.

And Finally, I Shut Up And Give My Finishing Thoughts

Bug is versatile in the Pokemon themselves. The Pokemon fill the roles of a balanced offensive team unless you're going for hyper-offensive which is equally viable.

I might be kinda biased when I say this, but Bug is one of the best types in this meta. It really is amazing. The amount of viable Pokemon is great. It's very fun to use. It's my favourite type competitively, so I might not have an unbiased reply, but this is from my experiences and my experiences tell me I had fun.
 

InfernapeTropius11

get on my level
Other people have answered the questions pretty well, good job guys! Glad to see this thread getting some much-deserved attention ^_^
Some other points I wish to make:
Bug tends to be a very offensive type. While it does have defensive Pokemon, such as Forretress, Shuckle, and Armaldo, few Bugs have any recovery outside of Leftovers or passive healing, like Giga Drain. This means the most defensive Bug teams usually ever get is balanced or bulky offense, as they also have no Wish passers.

Volcarona is a very important Pokemon for Bug. It literally fits on every viable playstyle Bug has, and is one of the VERY few Bugs with reliable recovery, as well as being one of the few Bugs that is easy to change up and can fill multiple roles effectively. It also thinks it is a burd. The most obvious set it has involves Quiver Dance, which is an amazing move that it is the best user of. It also runs its signature move, Fiery Dance which has a solid Base Power and a nifty 50% chance to raise your SpA. The other moves it runs depends on what playstyle you run. If you have an offensive team, you will likely run speed and special attack EVs, Bug Buzz, and either HP Ground for Heatran or Giga Drain for Water types and some recovery. If you run a balanced/bulky offense team, you will likely run Bulkarona, with Roost and either HP Ground for Fire types or Bug Buzz for 2 STABs. Volcarona also serves a role as a revenge killer with Choice Scarf. It does have limited coverage, but it has enough to get the job done, in Fire Blast (usually better on choice sets as you are aiming for power, rather than the longevity necessary to take advantage of the SpA boosts from Fiery Dance), Bug Buzz, Giga Drain, Hurricane, Hidden Power Ground, and Psychic. Another more niche options I wish to highlight is HP Ice. I run EQ on Mega Pinsir to bop Steel types and in particular Heatran (which is the only reason to run HP Ground on Volcarona,as Psychic is a better option to handle Tentacruel) which frees up my Hidden Power on Volcarona, so I chose HP Ice. I had noticed my team was struggling to beat defensive Lando-T (my team is slightly tilted towards more physical attackers) and I have since killed many a Lando-T that decided it wished to stay in :] It has proved very helpful against Flying spam, as it hits annoying Pokemon like Lando-T and Mence really hard if it doesn't OHKO, while dealing solid damage to the rest of the team, partnering well with its Fire STAB. Another very underrated set is Specsarona. With its decent coverage and the surprise factor it can often nab kills and wallbreak pretty well. This is all ignoring a couple special features, such as it's great typing that leaves it neutral to Fire (watch out for Rock types though,that and Stealth Rock will ruin Volcarona day ._.). It also has Flame Body, which has a Scald-like chance to burn physical attackers that make contact (aka, if the opponent touches you they get burned, because we all know Scald always burns, amirite?), which allows it to switch in on a Scizor or Breloom trying to revenge kill a weakened teammate with priority you resist and burn. Them for their trouble. It also helps against many other Pokemon, and can often make victory come easier with a timely burn on a threat. Another boon of Volcarona is its ability to pseudo-absorb burns. As Bug has no viable Heal Beller (outside Leavanny, who is pretty niche but still usable I guess), this helps teammates such as Scizor or Moxie ScarfCross a lot.

Another Pokemon I wish to highlight is Accelgor. It outspeeds a large portion of the unboosted metagame, and it has Unburden to outspeed everything. A cool set is SubPetaya Berry. Basically, Sub until you get the SpA boosts and Unburden activates, then sweep. It does need support to be effective (such as every priority removed cuz Accelgor is frail asf) but with its excellent speed and decent special attack it can serve well as a late game cleaner. It has Bug Buzz for a solid STAB, and Focus Blast, Energy Ball/Giga Drain, and Sludge Bomb for coverage. A very underrated Pokemon that is often bashed for its frailty, but simply a Pokemon that requires more support to unlock its true potential :]

Another decent Pokemon that is often overlooked is Volbeat. It has access to Tail Glow and Baton Pass, so it can set something like Accelgor, Galvantula, or Volcarona up for a sweep. It has an excellent ability in Prankster and the support movepools to take advantage of it, including the above options, Confuse Ray, Encore, Thunder Wave, Rain Dance or Sunny Day for weather teams (Rain+Specs Galvantula or Sun+Specs Volcarona can really hurt, and Rain also greatly helps Douse Drive Techno Blast/Thunder Genesect go to town), Tailwind, Trick, Substitute (for Baton Pass sets), and U-Turn. This allows it to be a neat support Pokemon on many Bug teams, despite its frailty.

I also wish to mention Guts Heracross. Bug does not have a Heal Beller, so GutsCross can step right in and fulfill the role of status absorber quite nicely, even nabbing a boost in power courtesy of Guts. Moxie ScarfCross is often used as a late-game cleaner, and for good reason, as it is amazing, but I simply wanted to point out to newer users that Guts is an equally viable option to help with Bugs general status problem.

Escavalier is another underused Bug type, due to its insanely slow speed and the fact that it does not get Gyro Ball (thanks TrollFreak, say it flies around at high speeds, then give it base 20 speed and THEN don't even give it Gyro Ball <.<), but it still hits hard with 135 Base attack and great STABs in Megahorn and Iron Head and usable coverage in Poison Jab, Drill Run, and Knock Off (especially KOff, as it is very helpful to Bug teams that don't run Heracross/Scizor or don't run Knock Off on them). It can choose to take hits better withits great bulk and use Asault Vest, or hit like a truck with a Choice Band equipped. or Choice Scarf, it let's you outspeed even Chansey!!! It also has two usable abilities in Overcoat (immunity to Spore+hail, as it is already immune to Sandstorm and doesn't care too much about Stun Spore, but it is still immune to that from Whimsicott, and Sleep Powder from MegaSaur), and Swarm (raises the power of Bug moves when at low health, which is great, as it boosts Megahorn to insane levels of damage output). It is really a shame that it doesn't get U-Turn or Gyro Ball, but it is still a very cool Pokemon nonetheless.

Finally, one of the first Pokemon I used, and the hazard setter for my original team. If you don't wanna be mainstream, Crustle can set hazards effectively with access to Rocks, Spikes, and Sturdy, as well as decent bulk. It also makes a decent Shell Smasher if you want to use it for a sweep, and itcan aforementioned torun White Herb over Focus Sash as it already has Sturdy. Another solid Pokemon that I love to use, as it is one of the first Pokemon I ever used in monotype and still does its job effectively.

Now for some other sets you can use to check certain threats:

Armaldo is a very good Pokemon on Bug, with either Assault Vest or as a bulky Rapid Spinner. I use the bulky Rapid Spin/Rocks/Stone Edge/Knock Off set, but with a slight tweak--I run 32 Attack EVs. Why, you ask?Well to help vs. Fire and Flying! 32 Attack EVs guarantees the OHKO on specially bulky variants of Togekiss and Zapdos, while OHKOing nearly everything on Fire, except Infernape and defensive Torkaol (2HKOs), fully invested defensive Intimidate Arcanine (84.4% chance to 2HKO) and Heatran (3HKO) all after Stealth Rocks. That is pretty solid damage for a Pokemon that is supposed to simply spin, and it can stop Pokemon like Torkoal and Zapdoswho think theycan come in and clear your hazards.

I also invented a pretty cool Yanmega set. It may seem a bit niche at first, but it is actually pretty solid. I run Metronome as the item (Yes, Metronome. In case you don't know, it increases the power of your move if you use it consecutively, so 1x-->1.2x-->1.4x-->1.6x-->1.8x-->2x, where it stays) and Shadow Ball, Giga Drain, Bug Buzz, and Air Slash. This set aims to help me vs. Ghost, who, with Golurk setting Rocks, and everything spinblocking, can be a pain for Bug teams who rely on Forretress or Armaldo to spin away Rocks and don't use Defog Scizor. The combination of Speed Boot avoiding revenge kills via Scarf and Metronome boosting the power of Shadow Ball, this thing can easily sweep Ghost teams at a moment's notice if it gets in on the right Pokemon. It doesn't like Spiritomb or Mega Sableye too much, but thankfully Volcarona can successfully combat and eliminate those two. With smart playing, this Pokemon can make a difference in many matchups, such as Ground, Water, Ghost, Rock (somewhat--be careful though), as well as the mirror matchup. It is a very solid Pokemon that rarely disappointed me, and I often use it--even over Genesect sometimes!

Anyway, this is just some of my insight from one of my favourite types, and the one I first got decently successful with and the type I used when I first joined the monotype community n_n I have fond memories of this type and I'm sure you will too, as Bug as a vast number of viable Pokemon and possibilities to play around with and experiment.

Finally notes: Please don't use Shedinja, way too much stuff kills it and Wonder Guard is overrated. It takes a ton of support to use effectively, and it is still not even amazing then. It isn't worth the hassle unless you really love it. And never use regular Beedrill or Pinsir as they are outclassed when they don't mega Evolve.
 
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