Monotype Viability Rankings

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Celebi for C-rank for Grass. Celebi for B-rank.
Celebi(Celebi) @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 220 SpD / 36 Spe
Calm Nature
- Nasty Plot/Calm Mind
- Baton Pass
- Magic Coat/Taunt
- Psychic/Giga Drain

Why C-Rank B-Rank for Celebi? Because it is one of the only, if not the only Grass pokemon if I'm not mistaken that can use the combo of Nasty Plot/Baton Pass. While its not its only usage, its one of its best niches in Monotype, as Shaymin-Sky is much better as a sweeper for Grass-Mono. Now back to Celebi's Baton set, the reason I have Magic Coat listed is because it can avoid status effects and whirlwind/roar, and successfully pass to another pokemon, such as Shaymin-Sky. But, if you do not wish to work with Magic Coat, a simple set of 252 HP/ 4SpD / 252 Spe can be used instead with Taunt. As for Celebi's resistances and weaknesses, it brings nothing to a Grass team in general. A 4x weakness to Bug is not doing it any favors, and it won't be of much support to Venusaur-M or any other teammates due to being weak to Flying as well.

Celebi @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Giga Drain
- Earth Power
- Ancient Power
- Recover/Nasty Plot

While this set is slightly outclassed by Shaymin, it finds itself completely outclassed by Shaymin-Sky due to Shaymin-Sky having more power and speed in general and having access to Seed Flare as well, the only major benefit of running Celebi as a sweeper is Nasty Plot in my opinion.

Celebi @ Life Orb / Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Seed Bomb
- Zen Headbutt
- Sucker Punch

A nice physical set, but lacks a bit of power in comparison to other pokemon, but a nice movepool and a boosting move is very nice for Celebi. One of the key advantages I can see for running physical is avoiding the Will-o-Wisp attack drop with a switch.

Celebi @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Calm Nature
- Recover
- Heal Bell
- Psychic/Giga Drain
- Steath Rock/Thunder Wave

The reason I put Stealth Rocks as a option on this set, is because it frees up a moveslot for Ferrothorn or Cradily. But it could cripple a sweeper with Thunder Wave, as well as heal your own team's status moves with Heal Bell.

Reasoning for B-rank: I can see now that Celebi is indeed a versatile pokemon, with many sets it is capable of running. From a screen setter to baton passer, to pure sweeper, to cleric, I think it is very versatile, but its double weakness may hold it back slightly. So for that purpose, I recommend Celebi for B-rank, as it is not without its flaws and can't influence a whole battle.
 
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View attachment 30333
Celebi for C-rank for Grass.
Celebi(Celebi) @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 220 SpD / 36 Spe
Calm Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Baton Pass
- Magic Coat/Taunt
- Psychic/Giga Drain

Why C-Rank for Celebi? Because it is one of the only, if not the only Grass pokemon if I'm not mistaken that can use the combo of Nasty Plot/Baton Pass. While its not its only usage, its one of its best niches in Monotype, as Shaymin-Sky is much better as a sweeper for Grass-Mono. Now back to Celebi's Baton set, the reason I have Magic Coat listed is because it can avoid status effects and whirlwind/roar, and successfully pass to another pokemon, such as Shaymin-Sky. But, if you do not wish to work with Magic Coat, a simple set of 252 HP/ 4SpD / 252 Spe can be used instead with Taunt. As for Celebi's resistances and weaknesses, it brings nothing to a Grass team in general. A 4x weakness to Bug is not doing it any favors, and it won't be of much support to Venusaur-M or any other teammates due to being weak to Flying as well.

Celebi @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Giga Drain
- Earth Power
- Ancient Power
- Recover/Nasty Plot

While this set is slightly outclassed by Shaymin, it finds itself completely outclassed by Shaymin-Sky due to Shaymin-Sky having more power and speed in general and having access to Seed Flare as well, the only major benefit of running Celebi as a sweeper is Nasty Plot in my opinion.
I'm not sure C rank is doing Celebi justice. I haven't used Celebi so I might not be the best person to say this, but it can be more valuable to Grass types than you think. And you didn't even mention the primary reason to use Celebi, which is Heal Bell. I believe it's the best cleric that Grass has access to and it should be recognized for that. For this reason, I think Celebi on Grass teams is more appropriate in B rank.
 
View attachment 30333
Celebi for C-rank for Grass.
Celebi(Celebi) @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 220 SpD / 36 Spe
Calm Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Baton Pass
- Magic Coat/Taunt
- Psychic/Giga Drain

Why C-Rank for Celebi? Because it is one of the only, if not the only Grass pokemon if I'm not mistaken that can use the combo of Nasty Plot/Baton Pass. While its not its only usage, its one of its best niches in Monotype, as Shaymin-Sky is much better as a sweeper for Grass-Mono. Now back to Celebi's Baton set, the reason I have Magic Coat listed is because it can avoid status effects and whirlwind/roar, and successfully pass to another pokemon, such as Shaymin-Sky. But, if you do not wish to work with Magic Coat, a simple set of 252 HP/ 4SpD / 252 Spe can be used instead with Taunt. As for Celebi's resistances and weaknesses, it brings nothing to a Grass team in general. A 4x weakness to Bug is not doing it any favors, and it won't be of much support to Venusaur-M or any other teammates due to being weak to Flying as well.

Celebi @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Giga Drain
- Earth Power
- Ancient Power
- Recover/Nasty Plot

While this set is slightly outclassed by Shaymin, it finds itself completely outclassed by Shaymin-Sky due to Shaymin-Sky having more power and speed in general and having access to Seed Flare as well, the only major benefit of running Celebi as a sweeper is Nasty Plot in my opinion.
I think adding calm mind + recover or substitute may be worth mentioning on the Baton Pass set. Calm mind + Recover, although not as beneficial to Shaymin-S than a quicker +2 from nasty plot, lets celebi nab more boosts. Once it starts setting up against slower special attackers, Celebi becomes harder and harder to break, and has a narrow chance to avoid a 2hko from devastating special attackers.

252 SpA Mega Charizard Y Fire Blast vs. +3 252 HP / 220+ SpD Celebi in Sun: 188-224 (46.5 - 55.4%) -- 15.2% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery (Recover Spam till sun dies \o/)
+2 252 SpA Togekiss Air Slash vs. +2 252 HP / 220+ SpD Celebi: 170-204 (42 - 50.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Volcarona Bug Buzz vs. +2 252 HP / 220+ SpD Celebi: 192-228 (47.5 - 56.4%) -- 18% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery (I guess Bulkarona runs 0 SpA? :I)

Not only that, but Calm mind can also benefit the team even if all the special attackers faint or something, unlike nasty plot. (Things like Cradily or Ferrothorn could still take advantage of the SpD boosts, whereas the SpA boost might not be useful.) Venusaur-Mega can really abuse the calm mind baton pass, since its already bulky af, but just needs a bit of an oomph. Substitute could fit on the set too since it just helps you get Shaymin-S in safely, since a stray thunder wave just ruins its day.
 
View attachment 30333
Celebi for C-rank for Grass.
Celebi(Celebi) @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 220 SpD / 36 Spe
Calm Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Baton Pass
- Magic Coat/Taunt
- Psychic/Giga Drain

Why C-Rank for Celebi? Because it is one of the only, if not the only Grass pokemon if I'm not mistaken that can use the combo of Nasty Plot/Baton Pass. While its not its only usage, its one of its best niches in Monotype, as Shaymin-Sky is much better as a sweeper for Grass-Mono. Now back to Celebi's Baton set, the reason I have Magic Coat listed is because it can avoid status effects and whirlwind/roar, and successfully pass to another pokemon, such as Shaymin-Sky. But, if you do not wish to work with Magic Coat, a simple set of 252 HP/ 4SpD / 252 Spe can be used instead with Taunt. As for Celebi's resistances and weaknesses, it brings nothing to a Grass team in general. A 4x weakness to Bug is not doing it any favors, and it won't be of much support to Venusaur-M or any other teammates due to being weak to Flying as well.

Celebi @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Giga Drain
- Earth Power
- Ancient Power
- Recover/Nasty Plot

While this set is slightly outclassed by Shaymin, it finds itself completely outclassed by Shaymin-Sky due to Shaymin-Sky having more power and speed in general and having access to Seed Flare as well, the only major benefit of running Celebi as a sweeper is Nasty Plot in my opinion.
I personally don't feel like Magic Coat's nessary since Taunt isn't too common in Monotype. Celebi has Nautral Cure so the status will go away once you Baton Pass. There's also a nice Swords Dance set.

Celebi @ Life Orb / Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Seed Bomb
- Zen Headbutt
- Sucker Punch

It's a weird set, but Grass kinda lacks good Physical Attackers. Sucker Punch makes up Celebi's subpar speed.
 
Whimsicott (grass) for A rank



Whimsicott @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Leech Seed
- Substitute
- Encore
- Taunt

Prankster is a wonderful ability that gives all of it's non damaging moves priority, which makes this one of the few true "bulky" users of a fast taunt as well as locking things that have already increased their speed or just calm minded up, into their move.
I'm choosing taunt over stun spore, an attacking move, or u-turn because it prevents opposing taunt pokemon from forcing you out, as well as allowing you to get the last word against something you have to switch out due to it having both setup and priority (cloyster/dragonite) and having synergy with how hard it is for grass teams to fit a defog mon onto their team. Encore provides a mental block to most setup sweepers, and ceirtain walls throughout the game as long as whimsicott is alive, the team preview will put the fear of sheep into them. Leech Seed and subtitute is just a nasty combo that you can use on a lot of pokemon.... Like over half of them. Whimsicott can be forced out easily by opposing grass types like breloom though, and it's bulk isn't quite worth writing home about, allthough it's resistances are suprisingly diverse, with the glaring exception of poison. If stunspore is kept, the difficulty fitting clerics onto mono teams may make it huge, especially if a pokemon cabable of going through your entire team is crippled. If it wants to, it can specialize as an anti dragon dance pokemon by running cotton guard over encore or taunt, freeing it up for the stun spore or a single damaging move.

Whimsicott @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Leech Seed
- Substitute
- Encore
- Stun Spore

Now stun spore is also extremely good with the prankster ability and can salvage games on things. Also of note is how much LO/toxic/ damage priority substitute can rack up even if you have to send whimsicott in after the opponet gets a kill. Things that threaten grass teams that a priority stun spore is good for nueteriing include sand rush excadrill, charizard X, volcarona, greninja, gengar, genesect, and scarf staraptor. Even though Whimsiocott will probbably die in the process, most of these pokemon can go through 5/6 of a grass team or even the whole thing if you've been worn down a bit, making his death extremely cost effective, and if they switch out, you are free to still use your annoying sub seed tactics.

Whimsicott @ Choice Specs
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 SpE
Timid Nature
- Switcheroo
- Giga Drain
- Moon Blast
- Hidden Power Fire

An offensive whimsicott gives grass types an incredibly fast cleaner pokemon that can put in work constantly in some neutral match ups, especially dark and fighting. It's speed tier is very impressive, as it beats latios and 108 pokemon without blinking. Sadly, most of the things you would use hidden power fire on need to be hit on the switch in, as they either have bullet punch, or the bulk to tank an attack and hit back, so u- turn is an option to finally give grass a pokemon to deal with focus sash leads. Switcheroo functions like trick to cripple pokemon and Whimsicott typing gives it the coverage to hit a lot of the common XY megas, so there is less risk of them absorbing the move than for other abusers of the move. It also becomes much weaker to priorty attacks without the defensive investment, so you might find him falling flat against some teams. However, I find that he rises above being an anonyer to give grass consistant results in games where you would otherwise have to wait for the opponet to overextend and make mistakes.

Whimsicott @ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Moonblast
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power Fire
- Encore / Tailwind

Sadly, a good deal of the popular pokemon in monotype are bulkier than the ones in RU, making the extra power of the specs very unfortunate to lose for an offensive whimsicott. However, getting the chance to swap to a support move is not to be overlooked, as what whimsicott could never do even with the extra power of specs may be irrelevant compared to what he can open up for a teamate to do.

Most of the pokemon on a grass mono cannot benefit from his access to memento enough to warrant killing him off. Whimsicott can go a along way to making sure your defensive core of venusaur and ferrothron lasts even longer, as once your team has seen him on the teambuilder, they will only confront the fatties with their unboosted and choiced pokemon, which can give a crucial advantage. Knock off is usually passed up for him as well. Offensive whimsicoot give up the versatile support options, but can make specific match ups incredibly painful for the opponet's team. Stun spore may be redundant on teams using toxic spikes. Whimsicott is a suprisingly solid pokemon despite his role usually being chalked up as an "annoyer", and in monotype limitations on team buildng make it effective in some way against a lot of teams.
 
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Couple changes i would like to see

Explanation: Bug needs rapid spin support these two pokemon do it very nicely and are very sturdy physical walls as well. Armaldo also works with an av set or it sets up rocks. With the AV set it checks Zard-y which is a major threat. Fortress is a solid rapid spinner with solid bug steel typing and volt switch to switch out and the multitude of entry hazards it has (spikes, toxic spikes, stealth rocks) this makes it a very big supporting player on your bug team. These options are better than defog Scizor since you have to give up a move Scizor can use for defog to get rid of hazards. For example you might want to run an offensive Scizor with life orb or its mega stone so it can play a more sweeping role. Also not to mention defog gets rid of your rocks which pressures your opponent to do less switching. Overall the rapid spin support these Pokemon provide for bug is very important and these pokemon deserve to be A rank because of the support they provide for bug monos



Overal Mega Herracross is underrated and packs a big punch although it gets a drop in speed and Herracross can also run an effective scarf sweeper. What people do not get on bug you have a new hazard introduced in Pokemon x and y called sticky web which lowers speed of a non flying and non levitating opposing Pokemon. The reason why people say Mega Herracross is bad is because we have Mega Pinsir and Mega Scizor on bug monotypes and Mega Medicham on fighting. Overall people do not get that the 3 bug megas serve different roles and are good in the roles they should perform. for fighting the story is different but people are looking at generic teams not what mega herracross can do in battle. Base 185 attack is nothing to laugh at which to note is higher than both of the physical bug megas attack stats. On fighting most people argue Mega Medi is better cause its fast and can spam Hjk but that is not a good enough reason to say Mega Herracross deserves C Rank on fighting. Overall Mega Herracross is a more dangerous set up sweeper than Mega Medi not bashing mega Medi although i have stated it very good at spamming hjk. Also one major niche i think mega Herracross has over Mega Medcham is its ability before mega evolution allowing it to beat Wil-o-Wisp status from pokemon Mega herracross with its ability gives it high base power moves that it did not have before with skill link ability. Also one big niche it has is beating slowbro on fighting monotype which mega medicham cannot do without sr also mega medicham wants ice punch for lando-t/ gliscor.
Slowbro calcs
252+ Atk Mega Heracross Pin Missile (5 hits) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro: 400-480 (101.5 - 121.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Mega Heracross Pin Missile (5 hits) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro: 370-450 (93.9 - 114.2%) -- approx. 93.8% chance to OHKO
before you say Mega Herracross does not deserve A Rank think about how hard slowbro is taken down on fighting monotypes without getting lucky with spore on breelom. Also one more note do not look at usage of Pokemon when reading this look at what roles it can fulfill with its powerful moves and base 185 attack.

I say these changes are very important because someone new to monotype meta will think these pokemon are not viable when really Armaldo or Foretress are on every bug team to spin and provide support. Mega Herracross is an amazing wallbreaker and on bug there is no one mega that is better than another mega in bug monotype and on fighting as i mentioned it takes more of a set up sweeper with good bulk and ohkos one of fighting's biggest walls(slowbro).
 
Whimsicott (grass) for A rank



Whimsicott @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Leech Seed
- Substitute
- Encore
- Taunt

I'm choosing taunt over stun spore, an attacking move, or u-turn because it prevents opposing taunt pokemon from forcing you out, annoying allows you to get the last word against something you have to switch out due to it having both setup and priority (cloyster/dragonite) and having synergy with how hard it is for grass teams to fit a defog mon onto their team. Encore provides a mental block to most setup sweepers, and ceirtain walls throughout the game as long as whimsicott is alive, the team preview will put the fear of sheep into them. Leech Seed and subtitute is just a nasty combo that you can use on a lot of pokemon.... Like over half of them. Whimsicott can be forced out easily by opposing grass types like breloom though, and it's bulk isn't quite worth writing home about, allthough it's resistances are suprisingly diverse, with the glaring exception of poison. If stunspore is kept, the difficulty fitting clerics onto mono teams may make it huge, especially if a pokemon cabable of going through your entire team is crippled. If it wants to, it can specialize as an anti dragon dance pokemon by running cotton guard over encore or taunt, freeing it up for the stun spore or a single damaging move.

Whimsicott @ Choice Specs
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 SpE
Timid Nature
- Switcheroo
- Giga Drain
- Moon Blast
- Hidden Power Fire

An offensive whimsicott gives grass types an incredibly fast cleaner pokemon that can put in work constantly in some neutral match ups, especially dark and fighting. It's speed tier is very impressive, as it beats latios and 108 pokemon without blinking. Sadly, most of the things you would use hidden power fire on need to be hit on the switch in, as they either have bullet punch, or the bulk to tank an attack and hit back, so u- turn is an option to finally give grass a pokemon to deal with focus sash leads. Switcheroo functions like trick to cripple pokemon and Whimsicott typing gives it the coverage to hit a lot of the common XY megas, so there is less risk of them absorbing the move than for other abusers of the move. It also becomes much weaker to priorty attacks without the defensive investment, so you might find him falling flat against some teams. However, I find that he rises above being an anonyer to give grass consistant results in games where you would otherwise have to wait for the opponet to overextend and make mistakes.

Whimsicott @ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Moonblast
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power Fire
- Encore / Tailwind

Sadly, a good deal of the popular pokemon in monotype are bulkier than the ones in RU, making the extra power of the specs very unfortunate to lose for an offensive whimsicott. However, getting the chance to swap to a support move is not to be overlooked, as what whimsicott could never do even with the extra power of specs may be irrelevant compared to what he can open up for a teamate to do.

Most of the pokemon on a grass mono cannot benefit from his access to memento enough to warrant killing him off. Whimsicott can go a along way to making sure your defensive core of venusaur and ferrothron lasts even longer, as once your team has seen him on the teambuilder, they will only confront the fatties with their unboosted and choiced pokemon, which can give a crucial advantage. Knock off is usually passed up for him as well. Offensive whimsicoot give up the versatile support options, but can make specific match ups incredibly painful for the opponet's team. Stun spore may be redundant on teams using toxic spikes. Whimsicott is a suprisingly solid pokemon despite his role usually being chalked up as an "annoyer", and in monotype limitations on team buildng make it effective in some way against a lot of teams.
There's also a Weather set. Since Grass Weather Sweepers are generally frail they really appreciate it when teammates set it up for them. Also, I feel like A Rank is a little too high, B maybe? (Although C is debatable)

Whimsicott @ Heat Rock / Damp Rock
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Sunny Day / Rain Dance
- Stun Spore / Grass Whistle
- Memento / U-turn
- Taunt / Knock Off / Moonblast / etc

This set is pretty much mix and match. Sunny Day is for Victrebell or Venusaur while Rain Dance is for Ludicolo. Grass Whistle has shaky accuracy, but it makes it a lot easier for the sweeping mon to switch in. Stun Spore is safer to use but you generally need Memento to get a safe switch in. U-turn lets you set up weather another time and it scouts potential switch ins. The last move can be pretty much anything and they all have their uses.
 
I think adding calm mind + recover or substitute may be worth mentioning on the Baton Pass set. Calm mind + Recover, although not as beneficial to Shaymin-S than a quicker +2 from nasty plot, lets celebi nab more boosts. Once it starts setting up against slower special attackers, Celebi becomes harder and harder to break, and has a narrow chance to avoid a 2hko from devastating special attackers.

252 SpA Mega Charizard Y Fire Blast vs. +3 252 HP / 220+ SpD Celebi in Sun: 188-224 (46.5 - 55.4%) -- 15.2% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery (Recover Spam till sun dies \o/)
+2 252 SpA Togekiss Air Slash vs. +2 252 HP / 220+ SpD Celebi: 170-204 (42 - 50.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Volcarona Bug Buzz vs. +2 252 HP / 220+ SpD Celebi: 192-228 (47.5 - 56.4%) -- 18% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery (I guess Bulkarona runs 0 SpA? :I)

Not only that, but Calm mind can also benefit the team even if all the special attackers faint or something, unlike nasty plot. (Things like Cradily or Ferrothorn could still take advantage of the SpD boosts, whereas the SpA boost might not be useful.) Venusaur-Mega can really abuse the calm mind baton pass, since its already bulky af, but just needs a bit of an oomph. Substitute could fit on the set too since it just helps you get Shaymin-S in safely, since a stray thunder wave just ruins its day.
Alright, it seems as by those calcs, that Calm Mind is indeed a option. I didn't think it might've been due to an opponent switching in with something with a bug poke, and abuse its stab to kill it.

I'm not sure C rank is doing Celebi justice. I haven't used Celebi so I might not be the best person to say this, but it can be more valuable to Grass types than you think. And you didn't even mention the primary reason to use Celebi, which is Heal Bell. I believe it's the best cleric that Grass has access to and it should be recognized for that. For this reason, I think Celebi on Grass teams is more appropriate in B rank.
I'll also add a cleric set, I forgot about it.
 
I personally don't feel like Magic Coat's nessary since Taunt isn't too common in Monotype. Celebi has Nautral Cure so the status will go away once you Baton Pass. There's also a nice Swords Dance set.

Celebi @ Life Orb / Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Seed Bomb
- Zen Headbutt
- Sucker Punch

It's a weird set, but Grass kinda lacks good Physical Attackers. Sucker Punch makes up Celebi's subpar speed.
That is an interesting set, however. I'll look into it, as soon as the server is back up.
 
Whimsicott (grass) for A rank



Whimsicott @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Leech Seed
- Substitute
- Encore
- Taunt

Prankster is a wonderful ability that gives all of it's non damaging moves priority, which makes this one of the few true "bulky" users of a fast taunt as well as locking things that have already increased their speed or just calm minded up, into their move.
I'm choosing taunt over stun spore, an attacking move, or u-turn because it prevents opposing taunt pokemon from forcing you out, as well as allowing you to get the last word against something you have to switch out due to it having both setup and priority (cloyster/dragonite) and having synergy with how hard it is for grass teams to fit a defog mon onto their team. Encore provides a mental block to most setup sweepers, and ceirtain walls throughout the game as long as whimsicott is alive, the team preview will put the fear of sheep into them. Leech Seed and subtitute is just a nasty combo that you can use on a lot of pokemon.... Like over half of them. Whimsicott can be forced out easily by opposing grass types like breloom though, and it's bulk isn't quite worth writing home about, allthough it's resistances are suprisingly diverse, with the glaring exception of poison. If stunspore is kept, the difficulty fitting clerics onto mono teams may make it huge, especially if a pokemon cabable of going through your entire team is crippled. If it wants to, it can specialize as an anti dragon dance pokemon by running cotton guard over encore or taunt, freeing it up for the stun spore or a single damaging move.

Whimsicott @ Choice Specs
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 SpE
Timid Nature
- Switcheroo
- Giga Drain
- Moon Blast
- Hidden Power Fire

An offensive whimsicott gives grass types an incredibly fast cleaner pokemon that can put in work constantly in some neutral match ups, especially dark and fighting. It's speed tier is very impressive, as it beats latios and 108 pokemon without blinking. Sadly, most of the things you would use hidden power fire on need to be hit on the switch in, as they either have bullet punch, or the bulk to tank an attack and hit back, so u- turn is an option to finally give grass a pokemon to deal with focus sash leads. Switcheroo functions like trick to cripple pokemon and Whimsicott typing gives it the coverage to hit a lot of the common XY megas, so there is less risk of them absorbing the move than for other abusers of the move. It also becomes much weaker to priorty attacks without the defensive investment, so you might find him falling flat against some teams. However, I find that he rises above being an anonyer to give grass consistant results in games where you would otherwise have to wait for the opponet to overextend and make mistakes.

Whimsicott @ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Moonblast
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power Fire
- Encore / Tailwind

Sadly, a good deal of the popular pokemon in monotype are bulkier than the ones in RU, making the extra power of the specs very unfortunate to lose for an offensive whimsicott. However, getting the chance to swap to a support move is not to be overlooked, as what whimsicott could never do even with the extra power of specs may be irrelevant compared to what he can open up for a teamate to do.

Most of the pokemon on a grass mono cannot benefit from his access to memento enough to warrant killing him off. Whimsicott can go a along way to making sure your defensive core of venusaur and ferrothron lasts even longer, as once your team has seen him on the teambuilder, they will only confront the fatties with their unboosted and choiced pokemon, which can give a crucial advantage. Knock off is usually passed up for him as well. Offensive whimsicoot give up the versatile support options, but can make specific match ups incredibly painful for the opponet's team. Stun spore may be redundant on teams using toxic spikes. Whimsicott is a suprisingly solid pokemon despite his role usually being chalked up as an "annoyer", and in monotype limitations on team buildng make it effective in some way against a lot of teams.

You fail to mention stun spore on Whimsicott which is one of its niches in checking threats on grass. Also the offensive sets are trash compared to skymin and is completely outclassed by skymin and other good special attackers grass has to offer. Overall i would place Whimsicott at B Rank because it only has 1 good set and it only checks 1 pokemon on the opposing team with stun spore. Also you fail to mention u-turn on your offensive sets which makes it somewhat more viable but not really because rotom-m can also run scarf trick a lot better than Whimsicott can. Overall i would rate it a B it is a good sub seeder but it does not impact the meta it is a poke on grass used to check Kyurem-w and Zard-y then die. Also can you explain why its A Rank because most times i use Whimsicott and i battle against it just checks 1 threat and just to remind you types like fire flying and ice can deal with it just fine and bring out their Kyurem-w or Zard-y later. Overall i say B Rank is better suited because it can check threats with stun spore. Overall Whimsicott is outclassed badly offensively its one niche is being able to check threats to grass as listed above are 2 major ones.
 
View attachment 30333
Celebi for C-rank for Grass. Celebi for B-rank.
-snip-
People complain that classic Tinkerbell dosen't get unique or wide coverage, but it's a bulky attacker, that can switch out of any status condition (winning against bulky SR leads in particular), cripple things it can't actually hurt with T wave, and potentially heal itself freely.

Celebi @ Life Orb
EVs: 232 HP / 240 SpA / 36 Spe
Modest Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power Fire
- Rest

Celebi @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpD / 8 Spe
Calm Nature
- Recover
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock
- Heal Bell

Probably my favorite generic support celebi, but it can totally run leech seed or giga drain over recover and swap u-turn to whatever. It can even run light clay+dual screen sets... Trick scarfs, and perish song. It's just one of my all around favorite mons. you can even mess with opponetn's by giving a choice or status orb item to a celebi with a full support movepool outside of trick (and bulk evs) and celebi will still work. It's just amazing as long as you keep in mind STAB supereffective attacks... it can tank many non StaB ones, espeically hidden power ice.
 
People complain that classic Tinkerbell dosen't get unique or wide coverage, but it's a bulky attacker, that can switch out of any status condition (winning against bulky SR leads in particular), cripple things it can't actually hurt with T wave, and potentially heal itself freely.

Celebi @ Life Orb
EVs: 232 HP / 240 SpA / 36 Spe
Modest Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power Fire
- Rest

Celebi @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpD / 8 Spe
Calm Nature
- Recover
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock
- Heal Bell

Probably my favorite generic support celebi, but it can totally run leech seed or giga drain over recover and swap u-turn to whatever. It can even run light clay+dual screen sets... Trick scarfs, and perish song. It's just one of my all around favorite mons. you can even mess with opponetn's by giving a choice or status orb item to a celebi with a full support movepool outside of trick (and bulk evs) and celebi will still work. It's just amazing as long as you keep in mind STAB supereffective attacks... it can tank many non StaB ones, espeically hidden power ice.
Interesting sets you got there. :)
 

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Erm yeah I've talked to AFD in the past about this and he agrees, I was too harsh on Excadrill especially and Hippowdon when I initially ranked them, my definition of S was perhaps different at the time to what it is now, but I'd be in favour of moving both to S, especially Excadrill as it is arguably the best lategame sweeper in Monotype and something that's really difficult to prepare your team for if you don't have access to one of it's counters or Mach Punch / Aqua Jet / trolly asf scarfninja. As for Hippowdon, it defines physical walling almost as much as Skarm does. If you need more explanation I'll happily write a longer post up but yea basically now I would put them at S :P
 
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Scrafty (Dark) for C rank



Scrafty @ Leftovers
Ability: Shed Skin
EVs: 232 HP/ 252 SpD / 24 Spe
Careful Nature
- Bulk Up
- Knock Off
- Drain Punch
- Rest

In my experience, dark teams have a harder time dealing with status moves than many other types, as their (optional cleric support) leads to losing almost as much offensive pressure as a chansey does, using an immunity core (krookidile for t wave, houndoom for wisp, or drapion for toxic) makes synergy between members difficult to balance, out playing them with taunt sablye and magic bounce absol requires some unsafe switches against ceirtain status abusers due to the poor defenses on either of them. All in all it's a problem. This is typically where shed skin comes in. He has the chance to heal off all of these moves, and can function as a specially defensive tank in a pinch, as well as a physical one if he gets some boosts off. Still speed creeps uninvested base 60 pokemon like swampert. Outside of fairy types, his STAB coverage forms a near perfect combo. Rest can provide fast healing against special attackers that resist drain punch, especially if they happen to be using drago meteor. IT can also quickly remove status if a touch of damage puts you in 3HKO range for something, while not even neccesarily lasting very long due to shed skin. Sadly, scrafty shares most of the weaknesses of other dark mons, and while he can tank, he doesn't particularly want to do it for long with only his own healing potential. Fighting types, Brave bird, and fairy moves can melt him pretty easily. He fares wonderfully against scald spam however, and can be climatic in other match ups.

Scrafty @ Leftovers
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Knock Off
- Drain Punch
- Iron Head

Scrafty just manages to outspeed +nature 110 pokemon after a dragon dance, and their scarf variants after a second. Iron head or ice punch allows him to either kill Dragon pokemon while stuck at +1, or to threaten ceirtain fairies. Moxie stacks his average attack to fatal levels, but shed skin can be used on this if you want to keep him in a status absorbing role.

Umbreon and tyranitar generally keep assault vest scrafty out of monotype, but it can be used to take pressure off of them. An intimidate set could be used to double up on your physical core, and between drain punch or rest/talk healing, support in knock off, dragon tail, superfang, he could be what the doctor ordered for types only able to field a single pokemon with fighting type moves, and for stopping pokemon like excadrill cold. He isn't quite bulky enough to take on SE attacks until at about +3, although if he can KO with drain punch, a +1 or 2 2HKO by the enemy is no big deal. He's capable of raising his special defense with amnesia if you wanted a gimmicky pokemon that could win battles against teams reduced to purely offensive mons, but it wouldn't be able to KO phasers before getting blown away in any realistic stiuation, get blitzed by SE attacks early in its boosting cycle, or retain enough healing ability if it got taunted itself.
 
Erm yeah I've talked to AFD in the past about this and he agrees, I was too harsh on Excadrill especially and Hippowdon when I initially ranked them, my definition of S was perhaps different at the time to what it is now, but I'd be in favour of moving both to S, especially Excadrill as it is arguably the best lategame sweeper in Monotype and something that's really difficult to prepare your team for if you don't have access to one of it's counters or Mach Punch / Aqua Jet / trolly asf scarfninja. As for Hippowdon, it defines physical walling almost as much as Skarm does. If you need more explanation I'll happily write a longer post up but yea basically now I would put them at S :P
Excadrill can easily make it to S rank with its scarf Mold Breaker or Sand Rush set, and I can see Hippodown being S Rank but that's debatable. It's easily worn down by status + Taunt and Ground has no Heal Beller iirc. Hippo has a slight 4 move syndrome since you'll always be lacking something, wether its the ability to phase stuff out, no attacking move, etc. Convince me ;)
(I agree that Excadrill should be S rank but not too sure on Hippo)
 
Hippowdon is pretty much synominous with Ground teams no matter the sand rushless variants or just the balanced ones. It is one of the main glues for it as its a catch all in terms of bulk and versatility in how it is used. Depending on what you can want, it has the capability of running SR + a phasing move/secondary attack move in with Earthquake and Slack Off. It can outlive multiple foes and beat some various nuisances just do to being able to shrug off their attacks. Usually the only side effect Hippo ever can receive is just that it is usually required to be at full health at times to check some certain threats, and 4mss syndrome can indeed be an issue at times but his supportive capabilities far outweigh that of his weaknesses.

He and Gliscor are the two defensive Ground type that are physically oriented that possess reliable recovery. Hippowdon surpasses Gliscor in the fact it is capable of living off a larger variety of attacks due to not being x4 weak to a type and having a much higher hp stat in exchange or not possessing the resitance to fighting. It is part of the two fold core in ground teams (be it Quagsire or Gastrodon) that helps alleviate the pressure found in fighting against opponents and it is the more versatile of the two. Hippowdon compared to them actually has the capability of defeating a wider variety of threats in being able to counter Char Y (if it is carrying its Rock move which again comes down to if you can afford it) and even comically being able to fight off Ferrothorn and some grass types (if you are silly and carry Fire Fang like I do sometimes). Is it the most versatile ground type? God no, but it has the ability to do what is required of it exemplary and wall a great amount of the threats required of it.

Basically for me it comes down to the fact that when building Ground teams, you almost have nothing to lose by slapping Hippowdon on your team. You get both a mon to fufill Rocks up, Heal in the face of pitiful foes, stop some set up attackers, fire off reasonably strong attacks with no investment, and being able to be a catch all wall for Ground teams. It even gives support for the teams that decide to run Sand rush Exca and Sand Force Chomp to be able to do what they do. Its mere presence is capable of helping turn the tide of some battles just by setting up sand (and hell even dying after that). It is not a meta defining mon, but it is something that begs the question of every Ground user, "Why am I not running Hippowdon?"
 

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So demanding smh ;)

Ye I was about to launch into the longest post ever about saving the hippo, but the one above caught pretty much everything I was gonna say in the first and last paragraph, and said it very well(although I don't agree with countering Zard Y unless you're running what I consider to be an inferior Specially Defensive set with Leftovers, Hippo is never eating Fire Blasts, at best you can tank one and then double into Gastrodon, and it really can't take on most grass types even with Fire Fang). However there is one Grass type Hippowdon is instrumental in helping you beat, and it's possibly the fattest of them all: Mega Venusaur. With the sand support it provides, it makes it so much harder for Venu to fend off your teams attacks as it can't rely on Synthesis so much anymore. Speaking of sand, the residual damage that it provides, even though it may only last 8 turns at a time is still fantastic. A play I often make when playing against teams with sashloom or sash smeargle is to lead with something faster, ie megachomp for loom and landorus for smeargle, bring them down to sash and absorb the sleep, then switch to Hippowdon next turn so they only get one free turn before they get killed off by the residual. It has so many more applications too, it can break sashes if you can't get rocks up during the game, nullifies opposing weather and harmful moves like solarbeam on zard y to allow gastrodon to check it safely, and obviously juices up Exca to make it the machine it is. What you have to remember is how threatening Excadrill is, it's arguably the biggest weapon a Ground team can possess and one of the biggest traits that can help differentiate Ground from other monos, but none of this is possible without Hippowdon. I'd say it deserves to join the mole in S Rank.
 
So demanding smh ;)

Ye I was about to launch into the longest post ever about saving the hippo, but the one above caught pretty much everything I was gonna say in the first and last paragraph, and said it very well(although I don't agree with countering Zard Y unless you're running what I consider to be an inferior Specially Defensive set with Leftovers, Hippo is never eating Fire Blasts, at best you can tank one and then double into Gastrodon, and it really can't take on most grass types even with Fire Fang). However there is one Grass type Hippowdon is instrumental in helping you beat, and it's possibly the fattest of them all: Mega Venusaur. With the sand support it provides, it makes it so much harder for Venu to fend off your teams attacks as it can't rely on Synthesis so much anymore. Speaking of sand, the residual damage that it provides, even though it may only last 8 turns at a time is still fantastic. A play I often make when playing against teams with sashloom or sash smeargle is to lead with something faster, ie megachomp for loom and landorus for smeargle, bring them down to sash and absorb the sleep, then switch to Hippowdon next turn so they only get one free turn before they get killed off by the residual. It has so many more applications too, it can break sashes if you can't get rocks up during the game, nullifies opposing weather and harmful moves like solarbeam on zard y to allow gastrodon to check it safely, and obviously juices up Exca to make it the machine it is. What you have to remember is how threatening Excadrill is, it's arguably the biggest weapon a Ground team can possess and one of the biggest traits that can help differentiate Ground from other monos, but none of this is possible without Hippowdon. I'd say it deserves to join the mole in S Rank.
Never ment it was a good set just a possible one that can be utilized (and idk, Hippo can usually always net me the Ferro kill along with the Breloom neuter usually (and a kill a few times as weird as it is)). My pinion on it though.
 
Yeah, Hippo's def S rank from what you said. Both Salemance and DM35 gave extremely good arguments. Go change the original write up and I'll move it up right now.

(Oh, I'm always demanding. You should know this by now ;) )
 
Yeah, Hippo's def S rank from what you said. Both Salemance and DM35 gave extremely good arguments. Go change the original write up and I'll move it up right now.

(Oh, I'm always demanding. You should know this by now ;) )
First we argue then we got to change it. Gah :P

Anyway original post was DM's right? To editing he goes!
 
Mega Ampharos A Rank Electric
Mega Ampharos is very good poke on electric teams although it loses speed it gains a lot more bulk dragon typing and a big special attack boost in return. Overall i say this is a great mega for electric because it has heal bell which helps very few physical attackers on electric not worry about being burned and crippled. This also helps you get rid of entry hazards indirectly by keeping toxic off of Zapdos with heal bell. Overall it may have only 4 or 5 good moves which is all it needs to work and beat a lot of threats because unlike Mega Mantetric it gets focus blast a fighting special attack which hits those annoying steel types. Overall it is very great surprise Pokemon also because most people forget about its ability mold breaker which allows it to ohko Dragonite and do massive damage to Lanturn and Thundrus-Therian which open wholes in water and flying monos for your other pokes to do work. Mega Ampharos is a really good poke if you want it support it can do that if you want it to an offensive tank it can do that very well.
Ampharos-Mega @ Ampharosite

Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Modest Nature
- Discharge/Thunderbolt
- Heal Bell/Volt Switch
- Focus Blast
- Dragon Pulse

Why A + Other moves
Mega Ampharos just is a solid Pokemon and gives electric and good heal beller so Zapdos does not easily get crippled by toxic and the small poll of physical attacker are not crippled by Wil-o-Wisp too. Another move i forgot to mention and is interesting is cotton guard which could make a decent physical set up tank. But most of the Mega Ampharos fills role of a good hard hitting slow tank with heal bell support that electric wants. The main reason why i say it should be A is heal bell support and its very good coverage even though it has a shallow movepull it has all the moves it needs and does not need to rely on hidden power majority of the time. Overall the support it brings and being a good tanky hard hitting special attacker puts this Pokemon at A Rank.
 
Mega Ampharos A Rank Electric
Mega Ampharos is very good poke on electric teams although it loses speed it gains a lot more bulk dragon typing and a big special attack boost in return. Overall i say this is a great mega for electric because it has heal bell which helps very few physical attackers on electric not worry about being burned and crippled. This also helps you get rid of entry hazards indirectly by keeping toxic off of Zapdos with heal bell. Overall it may have only 4 or 5 good moves which is all it needs to work and beat a lot of threats because unlike Mega Mantetric it gets focus blast a fighting special attack which hits those annoying steel types. Overall it is very great surprise Pokemon also because most people forget about its ability mold breaker which allows it to ohko Dragonite and do massive damage to Lanturn and Thundrus-Therian which open wholes in water and flying monos for your other pokes to do work. Mega Ampharos is a really good poke if you want it support it can do that if you want it to an offensive tank it can do that very well.
Ampharos-Mega @ Ampharosite

Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Modest Nature
- Discharge/Thunderbolt
- Heal Bell/Volt Switch
- Focus Blast
- Dragon Pulse

Why A + Other moves
Mega Ampharos just is a solid Pokemon and gives electric and good heal beller so Zapdos does not easily get crippled by toxic and the small poll of physical attacker are not crippled by Wil-o-Wisp too. Another move i forgot to mention and is interesting is cotton guard which could make a decent physical set up tank. But most of the Mega Ampharos fills role of a good hard hitting slow tank with heal bell support that electric wants. The main reason why i say it should be A is heal bell support and its very good coverage even though it has a shallow movepull it has all the moves it needs and does not need to rely on hidden power majority of the time. Overall the support it brings and being a good tanky hard hitting special attacker puts this Pokemon at A Rank.
Why not a Agility set?
I mean, it can take hits like no other with that amount of bulk you already have on it, why not an Agility set such as this one.
Ampharos @ Ampharosite
Ability: Static
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Agility
- Thunder/Thunderbolt
- Dragon Pulse
- Focus Blast
Edit for reasoning on this set: After an Agility, even with +2, it can freely outspeed a Greninja and kill with a move of your choice. It can also take a good chunk out of phasers like Hippowdon with a Dragon Pulse or Focus Blast, and can outspeed many of its relevant checks and counters such as Garchomp.
 
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First we argue then we got to change it. Gah :P

Anyway original post was DM's right? To editing he goes!
I was half convinced, I just wanted someone to fully convince me :)

Besides, making DM type hundreds of paragraph's a little fun.. I knew he'd go on a writing spree

Edit:

Why not a Agility set?
I mean, it can take hits like no other with that amount of bulk you already have on it, why not an Agility set such as this one.
Ampharos @ Ampharosite
Ability: Static
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Agility
- Thunder
- Dragon Pulse
- Focus Blast
I agree with all of that except for Thunder. Why not Thunderbolt / Discharge?
 

Freeroamer

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Done, will add the great penguin in here as I'm doing it now, putting it in B just so you know :P

EDIT: wtf I just read that you're so mean, good thing I have no PS! to distract me :(
 
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