OU Monotype Viability Rankings

[Acast]

Nominating balanced Steel for high tier

I won't go into too much detail on this simply because I feel that it's obvious that steel is an amazing type.

Steel has some of the best pokemon in the game at its disposal from both the offensive and defensive end. It could pull off either offense or defense quite well in my opinion, but using both offense and defense in the same team makes Steel an extremely difficult type to face without a type advantage. Even when steel is at a disadvantage, there are specific Steel pokemon that can counter the steel type's weaknesses. Just to give a sense of what I'm getting at, here is a list of the pokemon that Steel has at its disposal:

Offensive: Aegislash, Excadrill, Mega Mawile, Mega Scizor, Lucario, Bisharp, Metagross, Jirachi, Magnezone, Durant, Heatran

Defensive/Support: Skarmory, Ferrothorn, Forretress, Mega Aggron, Registeel, Klefki, Cobalion

Just looking at those lists of pokemon is enough for me to be convinced that balanced Steel should be high tier. Aegislash and Skarmory both do well against fighting types. Skarmory is immune to ground. Heatran gets a boost from fire moves. Ferrothorn is immune to the powder moves so it can't be put to sleep. Excadrill's Mold Breaker gets rid of Rotom, which otherwise could be a problem for Steel. The type is also immune to toxic, making it the perfect type for walling/stalling the opponent.

At this point I feel like I'm stating things that everyone already knows, so I'll stop now. Basically, Steel is a type that can cover its weaknesses fairly well and can pull off multiple play styles, but is exceptional at mixing those play styles together to create a balanced team.

 

[Anttya]

Nominating Offensive Grass for Low Tier! (Thank god for Talonflame ban)

Yeah, I'm guessing no one's going to be writing lower tier stuff so I might as well.

Grass just doesn't have enough options, both defensive and attacking. Yeah, you have some monsters like Mega-Venusaur, and the ability to wall Swift Swim to death but Grass just doesn't cut it. First, being weak to most of the top tier (& mid tier) playstyles hurts. Also, Grass doesn't seem to get a lot of fast offensive Pokemon, so you're forced to use the likes of Sceptile who can't even reliably 1HKO Heatran with Earthquake (Sashed versions). Grass is also burdened with a weakness to Ice, which is one of the most common attacking types. Grass also doesn’t have reliable hazard removers (Woo Tropius and Shiftry!). So with these all combined, Grass just doesn’t have the options to be in mid tier.


Nominating Unburden Sceptile for Offensive Grass


Sceptile @ Focus Sash
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Acrobatics
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake

Call it a late game sweeper

Honestly, one of the most underrated Pokemon in monotype. Yes, it's horrible in OU because it's outclassed by almost everything, but to me, it's a staple to offensive Grass monotype teams. First, it gets the ability Unburden + 120 speed. This allows it to outspeed scarfed base 100s with an Adamant nature after an Unburden boost. Acrobatics will hit a majority of bug types hard, and it gets boosted to 110 base power. Rock Slide + Earthquake allow Sceptile to sweep through Grass's most hated matchup- Fire. However, Sceptile despises hazards, making Defog a must. Sceptile is also a late game sweeper, so you must be careful not to switch it in before all of the priority users are dead. The key thing is to get a free switch, Swords Dance, let the opponent bring you down to the Sash, get the Unburden boost, then proceed to (hopefully) sweep.

Replays:

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/oumonotype-121916957 - Grass vs Fire, how to use Sceptile successfully.

 

[Nochman.EXE]

Balanced Water (Weatherless) => High Tier

After doing some testing, I've, personally, found that Mono Water in general is an extremely diverse type both in terms of Typing and Role fulfillment that allow it take many different approaches to the Metagame. It can cover what few Weaknesses it has in terms of Typing with just the right Pokemon: Lanturn is capable of absorbing Electric Type Attacks while providing a Water team with a slow, Pivotal Utility, while it has Tentacruel is capable of taking those Solarbeam's from Charizard-Mega-Y (not to mention Leech Seeds thank to Liquid Ooze), while Ground/Water Types shut down Kyurem-B's Fusion Bolt. These Pokemon in combination with others give you Hazard Setters, Rapid Spinners, Electric-pivots, Grass-pivots, godspeed Scarfers, and many more. Of course it also wields the infamous Drizzle+Swift Swim combo, but what we'll be analyzing today is whether Balanced Water High Tier or not:

Matchups:

As mentioned before, Mono Water has everything it needs to get past it's Typing Weaknesses. floe (aquas0und) lays them out,

Hey guys! It's aquas0und. Going to nominate Balanced (non Swift Swim) Water for high tier. Been using water for awhile, and it's great to have a place to talk about its viability.

Water is a very versatile type, having types shared with all but one (until Volcanion arrives). Because of this, water has more flexibility than other types, although some archetypes must be established in order for water to overcome its weaknesses. Sae has done a really good job in showcasing some monster sweepers on Balanced Water; In contrast, I'm going to elaborate more on its weaknesses and propose some solutions that highlight its versatility.

Water must obviously find some way to deal with Electric types. Luckily there are some Water/Ground types to choose from, although most players will find Swampert useful for its high defenses, ability to set up Stealth Rock and phase/pseudo-haze using Roar or Yawn, and its strong Ground STAB in Earthquake. Furthermore, Scald allows it to spread burns, easing its physical-tanking capabilities. Quagsire is another option to add, as its Unaware ability and reliable recovery allows it to safely switch into most physical attackers and set-up sweepers with ease. Lanturn is also a great way to get around Water's Electric weakness. With Volt Absorb Lanturn can switch into Electric attacks and heal any damage taken. It also walls a few Rotom forms including Rotom-W, which would otherwise give Water/Ground types trouble because of their neutrality to Hydro Pump as well as their susceptibility to Will-o-Wisp. Rotom also has the option to Trick a Choice Scarf onto said Water/Ground types, crippling them for the rest of the match. Heal Bell and Volt Switch add to Lanturn's utility and are invaluable in supporting the team.

I'd like to caution against using only one of the aforementioned Pokemon to deal with the Electric weakness. Although Lanturn provides an immunity to Electric, Pokemon such as Kyurem-B and Mega-Ampharos can bypass Volt Absorb and deal heavy damage with Fusion Bolt and Thunderbolt, respectively.

252+ Atk Life Orb Teravolt Kyurem-B Fusion Bolt vs. 52 HP / 252 Def Lanturn: 209-247 (51.7 - 61.1%) -- 95.7% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ SpA Mold Breaker Mega Ampharos Thunderbolt vs. 52 HP / 204+ SpD Lanturn: 174-205 (43 - 50.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

In the case for using only a Water/Ground type (and not Lanturn) to deal with the Electric weakness, balanced water may find trouble against the previously-mentioned Rotom-W. Thundurus and Greninja will also cause trouble for the team, as both learn Grass Knot, which--with their high Special Attack--could quickly remove a Swampert or Quagsire.

252 SpA Life Orb Thundurus Grass Knot (40 BP) vs. 52 HP / 204+ SpD Lanturn: 101-120 (25 - 29.7%) -- 0% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery

As you can see, having both Lanturn and a Water/Ground type greatly improve Balanced Water's ability to take on Electric teams.

Grass is Water's only other weakness, and in my opinion more difficult to dealt with than Electric. This is mainly due to the type's bulky nature and resistance to Water. However, there are ways for Water to deal with some of the more common Pokemon seen on Grass teams.

One might be hard-pressed to find a way to deal with Mega-Venusaur. Its huge bulk and Thick Fat ability allows it to tank the Ice Beams commonly used by Water-type Pokemon, and both Synthesis and Giga drain ensure that Venusaur won't go down easily. On the more defensive side, a specially-defensive Liquid Ooze Tentacruel is a nice switch-in. As most Mega-Venusaur run Giga Drain, Tentacruel can slowly lower Venusaur's health while taking little damage, forcing Venusaur to hit it with a weak Sludge Bomb or switch out. Switching into a Leech Seed becomes a bonus, as the opposing team will take damage from Liquid Ooze regardless of whether or not Venusaur switches out. Acid Spray is an excellent tool for Tentacruel that applies to Grass and non-Grass teams alike. It harshly lowers the opponent's Special Defense stat, further encouraging it to switch out (a helpful tool against Calm Mind or Cosmic Power sweepers). Once Mega-Venusaur has taken sufficient damage, one can send in their Greninja or Choice Specs Keldeo with Hidden Power Flying to take it out. I find Choice Specs Greninja to be more effective, as it does significantly more damage than Keldeo's HP Flying due to Protean:

252 SpA Choice Specs Greninja Extrasensory vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Mega Venusaur: 288-338 (79.1 - 92.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

0 SpA Mega Venusaur Giga Drain vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Greninja (Psychic-type): 127-151 (44.4 - 52.7%) -- 22.3% chance to 2HKO

Breloom is a menace to Balanced Water teams. Its high attack coupled with Technician and Bullet Seed allows it to plow through most of these teams. It outspeeds most walls on Balanced Water and can easily find a turn to set up a Swords Dance, or cripple a Pokemon with Spore. Gyarados provides a temporary stop to Breloom with its Intimidate ability and the possibility of Ice Fang; however, Breloom resists Waterfall and Earthquake--two of the most common moves you will see on Gyarados, as most Gyarados run Dragon Dance and Substitute. Manaphy is a good check to Breloom, as an unboosted Ice Beam has a high chance to OHKO. Another check is Starmie, who outspeeds Breloom, resists Mach Punch, and takes it out with Psychic or Psyshock. The great thing about Monotype is that unorthodox Pokemon can be effective. Yes, I'm talking about Sap Sipper Azumarill. It acts as a hard counter to Breloom, as it is immune to Grass and resists Fighting. More often than not, it is very easy to bait a grass move and gain +1 to Attack due to Sap Sipper. Even without the boost, it OHKOs Breloom with a Choice-Banded Play Rough. Note, however, that Sap Sipper Azumarill must be Banded; otherwise, its damage output becomes very underwhelming.

I've discussed about how Balanced Water can handle its weaknesses type-wise. Here's a list of some of the major problem Pokemon for Balanced Water and how they can be handled:

• Mega Charizard-Y: Tough to counter due to Drought halving the power of Water-type moves and turning Solarbeam into a 1-turn move. Banded Sap Sipper Azumarill can switch into a Solarbeam and severely dent Charizard, making it easier to take out later on in the match using speedy Water-types such as Greninja, Keldeo, and Starmie.
• Galvantula: With access to both Electric- and Grass-type moves, Galvantula is difficult to handle. Thankfully, Galvantula is usually the first Pokemon sent out on Bug teams, so leading with Greninja is a good option. Specs Ice Beam OHKOs (2HKOs if Galvantula has a Focus Sash), while Galvantula's Bug Buzz or Thunder fail to OHKO an Ice-type Greninja. It is a risk to use Lanturn, although it can tank a couple Giga Drains or Energy Balls while weakening Galvantula in the process.
• Mega Pinsir: Very scary to face. After a Swords Dance, there are few water types that can take a hit. Rotom-W is the only reliable counter to it, as Quagsire risks being 2HKO'd and may be forced to use Haze while sacrificing itself in the process. Setting up Stealth Rock and phazing Pinsir is the way to go.
  • 252 Atk Aerilate Mega Pinsir Return vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Unaware Quagsire: 198-234 (50.2 - 59.3%) -- 79.3% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
• Ludicolo: Specially defensive Tentacruel with Liquid Ooze can tank Energy Balls/Giga Drains, set up Toxic Spikes, or hit hard with a STAB Sludge Bomb. Sap Sipper Azumarill resists Hydro Pump, Ice Beam, and Focus Blast, and 2HKOs with Play Rough.
• Mega Gyarados: Bypasses Unaware and Water Absorb due to Mold Breaker. Set up Stealth Rock if possible, and switch in a hazer/pseudo-hazer when the opponent sends Gyarados out. An untimely flinch on your Swampert or Quagsire from a +1 Mega Gyarados Waterfall may spell doom for your team. However, a healthy Keldeo and Azumarill can reliably check Mega Gyarados, as +1 Earthquake will 2HKO.

floe (aquas0und) also throws in that "Balanced Water can hold its own against types that are commonly seen in the upper ladders (Steel, Flying, and Swift Swim Water, for example)", which has proven to be correct during my testing. Water has all the tools it's need to go toe-to-toe with the most common Types, and has answers to many of the threats present in them. In addition to these Matchups, Water also has neautral-positive Matchups against the other 12 Types, which leads me to believe that Water has little to no Weaknesses, correct me if I'm wrong.

Versatility:

As mentioned above, Water has nearly every Type combination bar Fire (which will be solved with the release of Volcanion), and these Pokes are able of fulfilling all the Roles it needs. For example,

• Hazard Setters: Swampert, Empoleon, Seimitoed, and to a lesser degree Kabutops (typically not used on Balance).
• Rapid Spinners/Defoggers: Tentacruel, Starmie, Blastoise, etc.
• Physical Walls: Swampert, Seismitoed, Vaporeon, Politoed, Blastoise, Blastoise-Mega (lol), Manaphy, Suicune, Empoleon, etc.
• Special Walls: Empoleon, Lanturn, Tentacruel, etc.
• Wallbreakers: Azumarill (Banded), Greninja (LO/Specs), Keldeo (LO/Specs), Gyarados, Gyarados-Mega, etc.
• Sweepers: Azumarill (BellyJet), Slowbro (CM), Keldeo, Gyarados, Gyarados-Mega, Starmie, etc.
• Scarfers: Keldeo, Starmie, Manaphy, etc.

Effectiveness:

With the factors above considered, Mono Water is very capable of pulling off a Balanced play-style. With all the right Roles, it has everything it needs to accomplish this; it doesn't have to necessarily go out of it's way to cover it's Weaknesses either.

That said, Balanced Water is now High Tier.

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Example: Balanced Water Team:

A Balanced Mono Water Team (Weatherless) is generally comprised of:

Lead:
Swampert @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Roar
- Stealth Rock
- Protect

Stealth Rocks provide Balanced Mono Water (Weatherless) and the Team in general with an answer to Sturdy, Multiscale, and Focus Sashses, so that it's Sweepers may Sweep uninterrupted, while limiting the amount of times Charizard-Mega-Y can Switch In and ruin your day. Swampert itself provides Water with a back up Immunity outside of Lanturn, who can't take Fusion Bolt's from Kyurem-B since it bypasses Volt Absorb.

Rapid Spinner/Defogger:
Tentacruel @ Black Sludge
Ability: Liquid Ooze
EVs: 252 HP / 100 SAtk / 156 SDef
Calm Nature
- Scald
- Sludge Bomb
- Giga Drain
- Rapid Spin

Tentacruel provides the Team with an answer to Hazards such as Stealth Rocks, Spikes, and especially Sticky Web, which can slow down Keldeo and Greninja. Tentacruel also can, through it's massive Special Bulk, Grass Resistance, and Liquid Ooze Ability, shut down Giga Drain's and Leech Seeds, giving Mono Water an answer to non-Physical Venusaur-Megas.

Pivot (Slow):
Lanturn @ Leftovers
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 108 Def / 148 SDef
Sassy Nature
- Volt Switch
- Scald
- Thunder Wave
- Heal Bell

Lanturn is an all around excellent Utility that can function as a Electric pivot, while also Supporting it's Team with both Thunder Wave and Heal Bell. The fact that it's so slow and sooo Bulky allow it to bring in Gyarados, Greninja, and Keldeo safely.

Win Condition:
Gyarados @ Leftovers
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 4 Def / 252 Atk / 168 Spd / 84 HP
Jolly Nature
- Waterfall
- Bounce
- Dragon Dance
- Substitute

Gyarados is the guy to go to if your down or want a quick win. Fairly, straightforward, Gyarados' main objective is to rack up at least to Dragon Dances to outran Scarfers and over-power Walls alike. Moxie allows it to gain momentum as it goes, while Substitute can help it further Set Up by avoiding Status Attacks and such. Gyarados is also an answer to Grass Types that hurt Mono Water, as it actually gets a decent STAB in Bounce.

Wallbreaker:
Greninja @ Choice Specs
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 Atk
Naive Nature
- U-turn
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Extrasensory

Greninja breaks through the things Gyarados can't, and kills the things it can't outspeed. With Specs it can do this, while having infinite STAB with it's Moves is nice.

Scarfer:
Keldeo @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 Atk
Naive Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Stone Edge

Keldeo functions as a Choice Scarfer for this Team and the last resort to pull out for a Match. It can both Revenge and Sweep with it's massive power and stong STABs, while HP Grass is there to kill Gastrodon Switch Ins and Water Types that resist it's STAB combo. Water Teams have trouble with Volcarona Set Ups (if Tentacruel is down) and Charizard-Mega-Y, so Stone Edge is here to Revenge them both as Greninja can't reliably break through or outspeed them itself (just don't miss)!



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The next Monotype play-style we will be analyzing is Balanced Ghost and Heavy Offense Fighting.

 

[DoW]

While neither Ghost nor Fighting are my areas of expertise, I can say that as a flying player I find fighting perfectly capable of handling my team if used well. Of course, I have a slight advantage, however with many fighting-types sporting stone edge, and monsters such as scarf Terrakion are particularly good at taking out multiple flying-types.
From what I have seen, fighting doesn't struggle particularly against other disadvantages either due to having a wide range or attackers, from Infernape to Keldeo, and while it hasn't many options for stealth rock, the wide range of fast, powerful attackers with different STABs allows it to break through walls well and to sweep well.

 

[Anttya]

(This is Imp Acast from Frost. You probably haven't heard of me, but just mentioning it just in case.)Personally, I use a semi-stall ghost team. Half the team is devoted to support/stall and the other half is entirely offense. After using this style for a while, I've learned quite a bit about it. For this reason, I'd like to nominate semi-stall Ghost for Mid Tier.

Disclaimer: I'll be analyzing each of the ghosts that I find most useful. Just scroll down to the bottom of the post to see the overall summary if you don't feel like reading about each of the individual ghosts.

I'll start with the analysis from a stall perspective...

Sableye is a ghost that's practically tailor-made for stall. With priority taunt, recover, will-o-wisp, and toxic as well as knock off to get rid of an opposing wall's leftovers, Sableye can outstall a huge number of pokemon. Running special defense EVs along with will-o-wisp allows it to tank hits from both offenses and recover while the opponent's HP slowly drops from burn.

Dusclops with eviolite is a nightmare for some people. One person I've battled multiple times has said that my dusclops haunts his dreams. It's an absolute monster at tanking hits and has access to will-o-wisp, toxic, and pain split; perfect moves for stalling other pokemon. Pain Split works incredibly well alongside Dusclops' dreadful HP stat, so it leeches a lot of HP from the opponent and heals a decent amount of Dusclops' HP at the same time.

Gourgeist-Super is an incredibly underrated pokemon. Few people ever expect its physical bulk and, by then, Gourgeist has already burned the opponent with Will-o-wisp, crippling its physical attacks for the rest of the battle. It also has access to Leech Seed so it could pull off the iconic sub-seeder role. Also, people don't realize it has a usable attack stat and access to stab priority with Shadow Sneak, so it makes a surprisingly good (and unexpected) revenge-killer. Another underrated aspect of this pokemon is the ability Frisk. While not the most useful ability, it has still helped me quite a few times, especially when it comes to finding out whether the opponent has a choice item.

Spiritomb is another awesome ghost for stall. With all-around good defenses, it can take hits and it's perfect against opposing pokemon that think they can escape getting burned/poisoned/confused by using substitute. Infiltrator makes all of Spiritomb's moves go straight through subs. Once Spiritomb sets up a sub of its own, it can Sucker Punch the opponent or, if the opponent tries setting up swords dance/hone claws/etc, it could use Foul Play. A calm mind set is also possible for the more offensive side of things.

Trevenant is a pokemon that I haven't had much opportunity to play around with, simply because I love Gourgeist so much. But harvest is a great ability on a stall pokemon and Trevenant exemplifies that. From what I know about it, it has two basic options if it wants to stall: the standard Sitrus berry set, or a Chesto-Rest set. Just as all the other ghosts, it has access to Will-o-wisp and Toxic, the bread and butter of stall. Just like its fellow Ghost/Grass, Gourgeist, it also has access to Leech Seed and could pull off a sub/seeder role as well, which could be a great combo with the Sitrus Berry.

Now on the offensive side of ghost types...

Aegislash is an obvious choice. It's on practically every successful ghost team for good reason. In blade form, its offenses are outstanding. In shield form, the same goes for its defenses. It could easily run a physical, special, or mixed set and it's not limited to the standard Swords Dance or Weakness Policy sets either. A set that has become more common recently is substitute aegislash. Personally, I haven't found a way to make it work, but it's given me a lot of trouble when I face it. Also King's Shield makes Aegislash a nightmare for any physical opponent that doesn't run Earthquake.

Gengar has been the stereotypical sweeper since the first generation. Great speed and outstanding special attack lands it on pretty much every ghost team, just like aegislash. While it doesn't have as many options as Aegislash, it does still have quite a few. There are the obvious Scarf and Specs sets, which Gengar pulls off beautifully. Its move pool is amazing, with a wide range of offensive moves and some great support moves as well. Trick in particular is very useful when using a choice item or Black Sludge. A Sub/Disable set is also common and is perfect for shutting down Sucker Punch users. Also, as a side note, its ability Levitate easily allows it to switch in to any ground move, assuming the opponent doesn't have mold breaker.

Chandelure, my personal favorite pokemon. It has few viable options, but that doesn't make it bad. On the contrary, a scarved Chandelure is amazing and it's probably the best way to use Chandy. I've also seen a sashed Chandelure, which isn't bad, but it can't sweep like a scarved Chandy can.

Other options include:
Golurk: the only Ghost able to set up Stealth Rocks. Its attack stat is great, but it's neither fast nor bulky, so it's not a very good choice in my opinion.
Mega Banette: A pokemon exclusive to the ghost type, this thing can pack a punch and support its team at the same time. Personally, I don't use it much, but it has a base attack stat of 165 and Prankster for an ability as well as access to Destiny Bond. Priority Destiny Bond is a concept that's scary as hell. This is a mega that can be a monster if played right.

There are others that I haven't mentioned such as Drifblim, Mismagius, Shedinja, Froslass, Jellicent, etc, but this post is more than long enough as it is, so I won't go into detail about those.

Overall
Pros:
-awesome offensive stab
-2 pranksters to choose from. One with Recover, the other with Destiny Bond.
-with both stall and offense on the same team, it isn't entirely countered by any one play style
-Aegislash (yes, it deserves its own bullet point)
Cons:
-utterly defenseless against most dark teams. I've searched for ways to handle dark, but ghost just can't handle it most times. I've only ever defeated dark teams a handful of times and hax was involved in those victories.
-few options to work with compared to other types
-no stealth rock unless you use Golurk
-often relies heavily on prediction

Ghost's incredible weakness to dark and lack of pokemon to choose from prevent it from being top tier, but with major threats such as Sableye, Gengar and Aegislash, I firmly believe it doesn't belong in low tier. Therefore, semi-stall ghost's logical place is Mid Tier.

(This is Imp Acast from Frost. You probably haven't heard of me, but just mentioning it just in case.)Personally, I use a semi-stall ghost team. Half the team is devoted to support/stall and the other half is entirely offense. After using this style for a while, I've learned quite a bit about it. For this reason, I'd like to nominate semi-stall Ghost for Mid Tier.

Disclaimer: I'll be analyzing each of the ghosts that I find most useful. Just scroll down to the bottom of the post to see the overall summary if you don't feel like reading about each of the individual ghosts.

I'll start with the analysis from a stall perspective...

Sableye is a ghost that's practically tailor-made for stall. With priority taunt, recover, will-o-wisp, and toxic as well as knock off to get rid of an opposing wall's leftovers, Sableye can outstall a huge number of pokemon. Running special defense EVs along with will-o-wisp allows it to tank hits from both offenses and recover while the opponent's HP slowly drops from burn.

Dusclops with eviolite is a nightmare for some people. One person I've battled multiple times has said that my dusclops haunts his dreams. It's an absolute monster at tanking hits and has access to will-o-wisp, toxic, and pain split; perfect moves for stalling other pokemon. Pain Split works incredibly well alongside Dusclops' dreadful HP stat, so it leeches a lot of HP from the opponent and heals a decent amount of Dusclops' HP at the same time.

Gourgeist-Super is an incredibly underrated pokemon. Few people ever expect its physical bulk and, by then, Gourgeist has already burned the opponent with Will-o-wisp, crippling its physical attacks for the rest of the battle. It also has access to Leech Seed so it could pull off the iconic sub-seeder role. Also, people don't realize it has a usable attack stat and access to stab priority with Shadow Sneak, so it makes a surprisingly good (and unexpected) revenge-killer. Another underrated aspect of this pokemon is the ability Frisk. While not the most useful ability, it has still helped me quite a few times, especially when it comes to finding out whether the opponent has a choice item.

Spiritomb is another awesome ghost for stall. With all-around good defenses, it can take hits and it's perfect against opposing pokemon that think they can escape getting burned/poisoned/confused by using substitute. Infiltrator makes all of Spiritomb's moves go straight through subs. Once Spiritomb sets up a sub of its own, it can Sucker Punch the opponent or, if the opponent tries setting up swords dance/hone claws/etc, it could use Foul Play. A calm mind set is also possible for the more offensive side of things.

Trevenant is a pokemon that I haven't had much opportunity to play around with, simply because I love Gourgeist so much. But harvest is a great ability on a stall pokemon and Trevenant exemplifies that. From what I know about it, it has two basic options if it wants to stall: the standard Sitrus berry set, or a Chesto-Rest set. Just as all the other ghosts, it has access to Will-o-wisp and Toxic, the bread and butter of stall. Just like its fellow Ghost/Grass, Gourgeist, it also has access to Leech Seed and could pull off a sub/seeder role as well, which could be a great combo with the Sitrus Berry.

Now on the offensive side of ghost types...

Aegislash is an obvious choice. It's on practically every successful ghost team for good reason. In blade form, its offenses are outstanding. In shield form, the same goes for its defenses. It could easily run a physical, special, or mixed set and it's not limited to the standard Swords Dance or Weakness Policy sets either. A set that has become more common recently is substitute aegislash. Personally, I haven't found a way to make it work, but it's given me a lot of trouble when I face it. Also King's Shield makes Aegislash a nightmare for any physical opponent that doesn't run Earthquake.

Gengar has been the stereotypical sweeper since the first generation. Great speed and outstanding special attack lands it on pretty much every ghost team, just like aegislash. While it doesn't have as many options as Aegislash, it does still have quite a few. There are the obvious Scarf and Specs sets, which Gengar pulls off beautifully. Its move pool is amazing, with a wide range of offensive moves and some great support moves as well. Trick in particular is very useful when using a choice item or Black Sludge. A Sub/Disable set is also common and is perfect for shutting down Sucker Punch users. Also, as a side note, its ability Levitate easily allows it to switch in to any ground move, assuming the opponent doesn't have mold breaker.

Chandelure, my personal favorite pokemon. It has few viable options, but that doesn't make it bad. On the contrary, a scarved Chandelure is amazing and it's probably the best way to use Chandy. I've also seen a sashed Chandelure, which isn't bad, but it can't sweep like a scarved Chandy can.

Other options include:
Golurk: the only Ghost able to set up Stealth Rocks. Its attack stat is great, but it's neither fast nor bulky, so it's not a very good choice in my opinion.
Mega Banette: A pokemon exclusive to the ghost type, this thing can pack a punch and support its team at the same time. Personally, I don't use it much, but it has a base attack stat of 165 and Prankster for an ability as well as access to Destiny Bond. Priority Destiny Bond is a concept that's scary as hell. This is a mega that can be a monster if played right.

There are others that I haven't mentioned such as Drifblim, Mismagius, Shedinja, Froslass, Jellicent, etc, but this post is more than long enough as it is, so I won't go into detail about those.

Overall
Pros:
-awesome offensive stab
-2 pranksters to choose from. One with Recover, the other with Destiny Bond.
-with both stall and offense on the same team, it isn't entirely countered by any one play style
-Aegislash (yes, it deserves its own bullet point)
Cons:
-utterly defenseless against most dark teams. I've searched for ways to handle dark, but ghost just can't handle it most times. I've only ever defeated dark teams a handful of times and hax was involved in those victories.
-few options to work with compared to other types
-no stealth rock unless you use Golurk
-often relies heavily on prediction

Ghost's incredible weakness to dark and lack of pokemon to choose from prevent it from being top tier, but with major threats such as Sableye, Gengar and Aegislash, I firmly believe it doesn't belong in low tier. Therefore, semi-stall ghost's logical place is Mid Tier.

Matchups:

Honestly, Ghost is a lackluster type. In 5th gen its only niche was setting permanent hazards and being able to have things like Chandelure and Sableye. However, in 6th gen came Defog which totally screws Ghost over. Not only that, Ghost still doesn’t get a good Rapid Spinner + Defogger. (Woohoo Drifblim!) Ghost also gets 2 Mega Evolutions, Gengar and Banette. Unfortunately, the Gengarnite is banned and Banette’s outclassed by Sableye (Lack of recovery).

The good things are that you get Aegislash, and that Steel doesn’t resist Ghost anymore. Maybe the arrival of Trevenet and Gourgiest (Makes a small core with Chandelure + Aegislash.) But that’s about it atm unless Mega Sableye’s super OP.

Generally, you have a neutral matchup, and as you already said, you get a positive matchup with popular types like Fighting, Psychic and Normal. Hell, you have a great matchup if most of the Pokemon aren’t Fairy types, and they’re Psychical. The bad thing is, that Ghost teams rely heavily on Chandelure and Aegislash to deal damage and they’re both walled / weak to Fire types. Not only that, Sableye can’t burn anything making himself a burden during that matchup. I also agree with you on Dark. Dark’s pretty much a complete loss for Ghost. However, I use a Life Orb + Sub Chandelure. With it, I can break down walls like Umbreon and Mandibuzz, accumulate Flash Fire boosts while Substituting on Sucker Punches thus creating a huge dent before Chandelure goes down. Focus Blast + Dazzling Gleam + Sub Gengar works as well. And with that Knock Off boost, it makes it even harder.

Effectiveness:

So from what I’ve seen when I’ve used Ghost, it’s obviously not High Tier because of its inability to counter the ever popular Dark and Fire types, but it is way too good to be in Low Tier. It may not seem like it, but Ghost gets tons of “positive” matchups (Dragon, Psychic, Normal, Water (Trevenet + Gourgiest), Fighting, Flying (To some extent), Grass, Bug, and Electric.) It’s the lack of Pokemon that’s pulling Ghost down.

Dragon has a good amount of physical attackers, so Sableye’s going to have a field day. Latios + Latias are walled by Aegislash. However, Gengar needs a safe switch in to kill Hydreigon (as long as it isn’t scarfed.)

Psychic starts off with a bad matchup. The best part is that Aegislash completely walls Mega Medicham, and somewhat Mega Gardevoir. You can also King’s Shield the V-create. If it’s Special, then send in Chandelure. As you already said, Meloetta is problem, but with the lack of recovery, repeated attacks will bring it down.

Normal is a neutral I guess, but Normal doesn’t get to spam Return + Quick Attack. Ghosts are also immune to Seismic Toss. In return, Ghosts can’t use their STAB but there are Pokemon with Knock Off. Golurk also gets Dynamic Punch which is able to 2HKO Porygon2 (Life Orb + Stealth Rock.)

-252+ Atk Life Orb Golurk Dynamic Punch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Porygon2: 156-185 (41.7 - 49.4%) -- 83.6% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock

Not only that, confusion’s always fun :) #Hax4Lyfe

Water is a 50/50 because Trevenant walls a lot of Water types so well. However, most Water types carry Ice Beam, but if you get the Leech Seed + Sub up... Aegislash also does a good amount in this matchup. Since it has great defensive stats, it can easily tank a move and proceed to set up Swords Dances. If it’s Swift Swim, Shadow Sneak should 1HKO a majority of the Pokemon because of their frailness but it’s always smart to stall out Rain by using King’s Shield.

Fighting needs no explanation. Spam Wil-o-wisp, be wary of Knock Off + Scrafty.

Flying is a fun matchup. If you’re decent at predicting, then you should be fine. Hard to explain, but you have the Pokemon to handle your average Flying team. Scarf Golurk excels here provided that Skarmory + Landorus-T’s gone. Also, if Gyarados’s gone, then Chandelure should do a decent amount as well. Just be careful of Charizard-X since it’s immune to burns, so carrying Foul Play could be a smart idea.

+1 0 Atk Sableye Foul Play vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Charizard X: 234-276 (78.5 - 92.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Shadow Sneak kills right after

Grass = Spam Flamethrower. When you see Venusaur or Cradily switch out and proceed to set up with Aegislash. Sub + Disable Gengar works pretty as well.

Bug = Spam Flamethrower. See a Volcarana? Spam Stone Edge from Golurk since Golurk lives any of Volcarana’s moves at +1.

+1 252 SpA Volcarona Giga Drain vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Golurk: 302-356 (79 - 93.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

+1 252 SpA Volcarona Fiery Dance vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Golurk: 241-285 (63 - 74.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Electric is about spamming Golurk again. Electric doesn’t get good priority + defensive Pokemon so setting up Aegislash will always be nice. Zapdos’s a pain, but if you predict right you can get a free Flash Fire boost from Zapdos (Most Zapdos’s on Electric monos are physically defensive anyways).

Verstaille:

Pretty good dual typings all around. You get a lot of immunities if you use certain Pokemon (Electric, Fire, Poison, Normal, Fighting) making most Ghost matches mind games. So this is what I have to say about Ghost:

Ghost is a good, but hard type to use. Its inability to beat Dark and Fire types consistently prevent it from being high tier. However, Ghost has some saving graces like Sableye and Aegislash. Ghost also gets a lot of immunities, and a lot of positve matchups. Because of this, I agree with you. Balanced Ghost is mid-tier!

Tell me if I missed anything :)

 

[Acast]

Matchups:

Honestly, Ghost is a lackluster type. In 5th gen its only niche was setting permanent hazards and being able to have things like Chandelure and Sableye. However, in 6th gen came Defog which totally screws Ghost over. Not only that, Ghost still doesn’t get a good Rapid Spinner + Defogger. (Woohoo Drifblim!) Ghost also gets 2 Mega Evolutions, Gengar and Banette. Unfortunately, the Gengarnite is banned and Banette’s outclassed by Sableye (Lack of recovery).

The good things are that you get Aegislash, and that Steel doesn’t resist Ghost anymore. Maybe the arrival of Trevenet and Gourgiest (Makes a small core with Chandelure + Aegislash.) But that’s about it atm unless Mega Sableye’s super OP.

Generally, you have a neutral matchup, and as you already said, you get a positive matchup with popular types like Fighting, Psychic and Normal. Hell, you have a great matchup if most of the Pokemon aren’t Fairy types, and they’re Psychical. The bad thing is, that Ghost teams rely heavily on Chandelure and Aegislash to deal damage and they’re both walled / weak to Fire types. Not only that, Sableye can’t burn anything making himself a burden during that matchup. I also agree with you on Dark. Dark’s pretty much a complete loss for Ghost. However, I use a Life Orb + Sub Chandelure. With it, I can break down walls like Umbreon and Mandibuzz, accumulate Flash Fire boosts while Substituting on Sucker Punches thus creating a huge dent before Chandelure goes down. Focus Blast + Dazzling Gleam + Sub Gengar works as well. And with that Knock Off boost, it makes it even harder.

Effectiveness:

So from what I’ve seen when I’ve used Ghost, it’s obviously not High Tier because of its inability to counter the ever popular Dark and Fire types, but it is way too good to be in Low Tier. It may not seem like it, but Ghost gets tons of “positive” matchups (Dragon, Psychic, Normal, Water (Trevenet + Gourgiest), Fighting, Flying (To some extent), Grass, Bug, and Electric.) It’s the lack of Pokemon that’s pulling Ghost down.

Dragon has a good amount of physical attackers, so Sableye’s going to have a field day. Latios + Latias are walled by Aegislash. However, Gengar needs a safe switch in to kill Hydreigon (as long as it isn’t scarfed.)

Psychic starts off with a bad matchup. The best part is that Aegislash completely walls Mega Medicham, and somewhat Mega Gardevoir. You can also King’s Shield the V-create. If it’s Special, then send in Chandelure. As you already said, Meloetta is problem, but with the lack of recovery, repeated attacks will bring it down.

Normal is a neutral I guess, but Normal doesn’t get to spam Return + Quick Attack. Ghosts are also immune to Seismic Toss. In return, Ghosts can’t use their STAB but there are Pokemon with Knock Off. Golurk also gets Dynamic Punch which is able to 2HKO Porygon2 (Life Orb + Stealth Rock.)

-252+ Atk Life Orb Golurk Dynamic Punch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Porygon2: 156-185 (41.7 - 49.4%) -- 83.6% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock

Not only that, confusion’s always fun :) #Hax4Lyfe

Water is a 50/50 because Trevenant walls a lot of Water types so well. However, most Water types carry Ice Beam, but if you get the Leech Seed + Sub up... Aegislash also does a good amount in this matchup. Since it has great defensive stats, it can easily tank a move and proceed to set up Swords Dances. If it’s Swift Swim, Shadow Sneak should 1HKO a majority of the Pokemon because of their frailness but it’s always smart to stall out Rain by using King’s Shield.

Fighting needs no explanation. Spam Wil-o-wisp, be wary of Knock Off + Scrafty.

Flying is a fun matchup. If you’re decent at predicting, then you should be fine. Hard to explain, but you have the Pokemon to handle your average Flying team. Scarf Golurk excels here provided that Skarmory + Landorus-T’s gone. Also, if Gyarados’s gone, then Chandelure should do a decent amount as well. Just be careful of Charizard-X since it’s immune to burns, so carrying Foul Play could be a smart idea.

+1 0 Atk Sableye Foul Play vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Charizard X: 234-276 (78.5 - 92.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Shadow Sneak kills right after

Grass = Spam Flamethrower. When you see Venusaur or Cradily switch out and proceed to set up with Aegislash. Sub + Disable Gengar works pretty as well.

Bug = Spam Flamethrower. See a Volcarana? Spam Stone Edge from Golurk since Golurk lives any of Volcarana’s moves at +1.

+1 252 SpA Volcarona Giga Drain vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Golurk: 302-356 (79 - 93.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

+1 252 SpA Volcarona Fiery Dance vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Golurk: 241-285 (63 - 74.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Electric is about spamming Golurk again. Electric doesn’t get good priority + defensive Pokemon so setting up Aegislash will always be nice. Zapdos’s a pain, but if you predict right you can get a free Flash Fire boost from Zapdos (Most Zapdos’s on Electric monos are physically defensive anyways).

Verstaille:

Pretty good dual typings all around. You get a lot of immunities if you use certain Pokemon (Electric, Fire, Poison, Normal, Fighting) making most Ghost matches mind games. So this is what I have to say about Ghost:

Ghost is a good, but hard type to use. Its inability to beat Dark and Fire types consistently prevent it from being high tier. However, Ghost has some saving graces like Sableye and Aegislash. Ghost also gets a lot of immunities, and a lot of positve matchups. Because of this, I agree with you. Balanced Ghost is mid-tier!

Tell me if I missed anything :)

You summed it up pretty well actually! Better than I could have and I specialize in Ghost lol. Although I am surprised at how much you were mentioning Golurk. I've tried using it a couple times but I, personally, didn't find it that useful outside of an Electric matchup. I might have to revisit Golurk and try some new move sets. After all, Sae couldn't have said it better:

Ghost has amazing niche movesets and it's all about finding the right ones.

 

[Fencerman]

I would like to nominate balanced mono bug for high tier. I feel that a mono bug team done correctly can destroy most teams. Mega-Pinsir is a threat by itself, and when it can be baton-passed speed boosts, attack boosts, and a sub (although it is rare to have more than two), it becomes a fearsome physical sweeper. It even gets an added coverage move due to the redundancy of Swords Dance. Bug also brings lots to the special side of the table, with the obvious Volcarona and the (in my opinion) underrated Galvantula. Volcarona can deal with Steel, other Bugs, Ice, and Grass with Fiery Dance and Bug Buzz. Meanwhile, Sashed Galvantula can set up Sticky Web, hit flyers hard with a 92% accurate Thunder against flyers and water types, grab momentum with Volt Switch, and hit hard with a special Bug STAB. On the defensive side of the plate, Shuckle can wall or cripple most attackers with the strange Power Split set, and Forretress can remove hazards, set up Stealth Rocks, and even hit somewhat hard with Gyro Ball. Other options can be Heracross, Scizor, Excavalier, and Accelgor. Heracross and Scizor can function in Pinsir's place as mega, while Excavalier and Accelgor can be used to include more coverage where needed.

 

[Nog]

sorry if this is an annoyance to you all, but do you guys mind posting a sample team or a formula to follow for the team type you are nominating. It will help players who are out of touch (me) or new to monotype team build better. Thanks

 

[Acast]

sorry if this is an annoyance to you all, but do you guys mind posting a sample team or a formula to follow for the team type you are nominating. It will help players who are out of touch (me) or new to monotype team build better. Thanks

Not a bad idea. Since I nominated Balanced Steel for High Tier earlier, I'll post the team I've been using. Keep in mind that I have never used Steel up until recently and I just slapped this team together before going on a testing alt and laddering with it. Surprisingly, it worked really well and I have changed it very little since I first put it together.

Skarmory (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 Spd (I have no clue why it has 24 speed EVs. I just clicked the "Suggested spread" and that's what it gave me. Probably to outspeed a specific pokemon that I can't think of right now.)
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Whirlwind
- Roost
- Brave Bird

Ferrothorn (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Protect
- Toxic
- Leech Seed
- Power Whip

Excadrill (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Iron Head
- X-Scissor

Lucario (M) @ Focus Sash (Probably the least useful member of the team, but I wanted another special attacker and I, personally, don't like special Aegislash.)
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Vacuum Wave
- Flash Cannon
- Shadow Ball

Aegislash (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- King's Shield
- Swords Dance
- Shadow Sneak
- Sacred Sword

Heatran (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Modest Nature
- Lava Plume
- Flash Cannon
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Rock] (For Mega Charizard Y. I've also considered HP Ice, but neither Rock nor Ice would get much use anyway. If anyone has any suggestions, I'm open to them.)


It's not an amazing team like those used by people who have experience using Steel, but just the fact that a rookie Steel user can throw a team together and ladder with it somewhat successfully is pretty impressive for Steel as a type.


PS: Steel is quickly becoming my second favorite type to use. It's so fun to battle with!!!


Edit: I didn't realize Heatran could learn Ancient Power. Thanks to Articuno for the recommendation! That'll be much more useful instead of HP Rock haha.

 

[DoW]

Heatran (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Modest Nature
- Lava Plume
- Flash Cannon
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Rock] (For Mega Charizard Y. I've also considered HP Ice, but neither Rock nor Ice would get much use anyway. If anyone has any suggestions, I'm open to them.)


It's not an amazing team like those used by people who have experience using Steel, but just the fact that a rookie Steel user can throw a team together and ladder with it somewhat successfully is pretty impressive for Steel as a type.


PS: Steel is quickly becoming my second favorite type to use. It's so fun to battle with!!!

I agree that it would be good to include teams, I shall edit my older posts at some point to include sample teams.
As for heatran, correct me if I'm wrong but the only differences between HP Rock and Ancient Power are the IVs, the opponent knowing what type it is and the chance for boosts. If you're using it against Zard Y, I think it's fairly obvious it's Rock, so for that reason I'd recommend Ancient Power instead.

 

[Nochman.EXE]

sorry if this is an annoyance to you all, but do you guys mind posting a sample team or a formula to follow for the team type you are nominating. It will help players who are out of touch (me) or new to monotype team build better. Thanks

Good idea, l'll implement that as soon as I have time. How I'll do this is lay out the Roles of each Pokemon in the Team so players can have a skeleton, if you may, of what kind of Roles make up a specific Play-Style. This'll make it easier to differentiate Monotype Teams from each other, and draw the line between what makes up an Offensive Flying Team and what does a Balanced Flying Team. I'm thinking about something along the lines of this (I'll use a wild Castform's Team as an example):

Not a bad idea. Since I nominated Balanced Steel for High Tier earlier, I'll post the team I've been using. Keep in mind that I have never used Steel up until recently and I just slapped this team together before going on a testing alt and laddering with it. Surprisingly, it worked really well and I have changed it very little since I first put it together.

Balanced Steel Team

Physical Wall(s)/ Stealth Rock Setter(ers)/ Physically Defensive Utility:

Skarmory (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 Spd
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Whirlwind
- Roost
- Brave Bird

(I have no clue why it has 24 speed EVs. I just clicked the "Suggested spread" and that's what it gave me. Probably to outspeed a specific pokemon that I can't think of right now.)

Ferrothorn (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Protect
- Toxic
- Leech Seed
- Power Whip

Choice Scarfer:

Excadrill (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Iron Head
- X-Scissor

Set Up Sweeper(s):

Lucario (M) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Vacuum Wave
- Flash Cannon
- Shadow Ball

(Probably the least useful member of the team, but I wanted another special attacker and I, personally, don't like special Aegislash.)

Wallbreaker:

Aegislash (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- King's Shield
- Swords Dance
- Shadow Sneak
- Sacred Sword

Lure:

Heatran (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Modest Nature
- Lava Plume
- Flash Cannon
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Rock] (For Mega Charizard Y. I've also considered HP Ice, but neither Rock nor Ice would get much use anyway. If anyone has any suggestions, I'm open to them.)

Or something like that, give me any further suggestions you have, guys. Me and my team will work together to update each Type judged with both the initial statement and an example Team. This is kinda the idea we were going for by the individual nominations, or proposing individual Pokemon that can can be used in said play-style.

An example of this can be Anttyaz recent Post, where she nominates her infamous Sceptile Set for Offensive Grass:

Nominating Offensive Grass for Low Tier! (Thank god for Talonflame ban)

Yeah, I'm guessing no one's going to be writing lower tier stuff so I might as well.

Grass just doesn't have enough options, both defensive and attacking. Yeah, you have some monsters like Mega-Venusaur, and the ability to wall Swift Swim to death but Grass just doesn't cut it. First, being weak to most of the top tier (& mid tier) playstyles hurts. Also, Grass doesn't seem to get a lot of fast offensive Pokemon, so you're forced to use the likes of Sceptile who can't even reliably 1HKO Heatran with Earthquake (Sashed versions). Grass is also burdened with a weakness to Ice, which is one of the most common attacking types. Grass also doesn’t have reliable hazard removers (Woo Tropius and Shiftry!). So with these all combined, Grass just doesn’t have the options to be in mid tier.


Nominating Unburden Sceptile for Offensive Grass


Sceptile @ Focus Sash
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Acrobatics
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake

Call it a late game sweeper

Honestly, one of the most underrated Pokemon in monotype. Yes, it's horrible in OU because it's outclassed by almost everything, but to me, it's a staple to offensive Grass monotype teams. First, it gets the ability Unburden + 120 speed. This allows it to outspeed scarfed base 100s with an Adamant nature after an Unburden boost. Acrobatics will hit a majority of bug types hard, and it gets boosted to 110 base power. Rock Slide + Earthquake allow Sceptile to sweep through Grass's most hated matchup- Fire. However, Sceptile despises hazards, making Defog a must. Sceptile is also a late game sweeper, so you must be careful not to switch it in before all of the priority users are dead. The key thing is to get a free switch, Swords Dance, let the opponent bring you down to the Sash, get the Unburden boost, then proceed to (hopefully) sweep.

Replays:

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/oumonotype-121916957 - Grass vs Fire, how to use Sceptile successfully.

Here she suggest what play-style of Grass it can be used on, what Role it serves, why it's worthwhile, and how it performs through a Replay. These things are exactly what to consider when proposing a singular Set in a Monotype Team play-style, and will be included within the area other Pokes with the same Role are.

Thanks for the suggestion Nog, not an annoyance at all man! Feel free to give any more suggestions on how to improve this Thread, guys!!!

 

[Sae]

Balanced Mono Electric: Low Tier
Okay I guess it's time for me to dissect the Electric type. First off Electric is one of those types that people will underestimate until you find a complete expert in the type. I know for a fact when I first started Monotype, I found MonoElectric to be one of the worst types in monotype because Flying and Water, the two types it should be beating, were for the most part staying ahead. Flying has both Zapdos and Thundurus-T while Water has many ways to deal with Electricity since that's one of the first things a Monowater team would be built around. After a month or so passed, I finally started seeing good Electric users and my way of thinking about them has changed. However through analysis of the type, no matter how good the player is, the playstyles and type in general is Low Tier. Even balanced Electric, which is the best playstyle Electric has to offer, is not enough to make it Mid Tier (maybe borderline).

I'd like to nominate Hyper Offensive Electric for Low / Mid tier.


The problem with Electric is that you don't have enough options. Yes, you have plenty of Special Attackers, but you only have 1 decent physical attacker named Electivire. However, you have access to Sticky Web (Galvantula). As most of you know, Sticky Web lets you lower every grounded Pokemon’s speed by 1. This makes a huge difference since it lets Pokemon like Electivire outspeed Terrakions etc. Electric Pokemon are also generally frail making it hard for them to switch out and in. They also do not have have any viable priority users out of Thundurus-I (Thunder Wave) making it extremely hard for Electric monos to stop set up sweepers. You can only gets Stealth Rock from Stunfisk which is a pretty bad Pokemon overall. In return you get only 1 weakness that a lot of Pokemon are immune to (Ground), and combined with Hidden Power Ice, you have the BoltBeam combo. Electric is only resisted by Grass which is hardly seen, and Ground and Dragon, which is covered by HP Ice. Another thing is that Electric Pokemon are generally fast, so combined with a Life Orb / Specs / Band you can power through most teams after weakening them. So when you combine them all together, I think that HO Electric deserves to be in the upper Low, or Mid tier.

First I guess outline the main threats to Electric. There's not that many viable options so most teams use the following: Mega Ampharos, Thundurus-I, Galvantula, Raikou, most forms of Rotom, Electivire, Magnezone (and sometimes Magneton), Eelektross, Mega Manectric, and finally Zapdos.

• Hazard Support:
  • Sticky Web: one good niche that Electricity has is Sticky Web support. Although most would assume Electric is already fast, most of the viable mons are not particularly fast (ironic I know). You have Thundurus-I at base 111 Spe, Raikou with 115, Zapdos at base 100, and then there's Mega Manectric with 135 Spe. This allows MonoElectric to not have to rely on Choice Scarves for your slower mons. You might ask if Sticky Web is redundant, especially with a type that primarily will paralyze you, but Sticky Web allows Electric to handle Ground a bit more easily. It also helps that said user has a solid 108 and access to moves like Giga Drain and Energy Ball with a very accurate Thunder.
  • Stealth Rock: this one is less used for the obvious reason: Stunfisk. Need I say more? Okay jokes aside, the only reason you would even consider Stunfisk is if you really need the Stealth Rock since it's the only mon that has access to it. I guess it could help with Fire (and maybe ice but who really cares about that), but it's totally unnecessary against Bug and Flying. You can already Sticky Web bug to get momentum or paralyze them and Flying you already are supposed to have an advantage over. Yeah there's really no reason to put Stealth Rock unless you like the derp pokemon.
  • Defog: With only one Pokemon that can use it in OU Monotype, Zapdos has the ability to get rid of hazards that might stack up. It won't even matter too much for your own hazards to get cleared since the only one up is Sticky Web which is only really complementary rather than vital.
• Volt-Turn:
  • With almost every Electric type having access to Volt Switch, MonoElectricity is easily able to rack up momentum. You even potentially have U-turn in Eelektross, but that's not important. The ability for practically your team to switch out into a better Pokemon easily brings much needed momentum which can be combined with Sticky Web for optimal results.
• Physical Threats:
  • Electivire: someone's probably going to laugh and call me a noob for even bringing up this Pokemon. I get it you 4th generation hater. However, Electivire is one of the only two viable Physical Electric types (without resorting to niches) the other being Eelektross. Electivire isn't even that bad for MonoElectric since it brings in much coverage that most of the team doesn't have access to. It has EQ, Fire Punch/Flamethrower, and even Cross Chop for its movepool.
  • Eelektross: probably one of the nicer Electric types since it has levitate like Rotom. Having access to Coil allows this bulky attacker to become a nightmare to deal with once setup. It's speed can become a nonissue with Twaves and Sticky Web setup, and even Rotom could run Dual Screens to help this. It's a bulky Pokemon that's hard to take down, and once it sets up those Coils you know you're in trouble.
• Boosters:
  • Raikou: Raikou is so deadly with Calm Mind. It could run a LO CM+3 set, SubCM, or even CM+ChestoRest. It gets a decent enough coverage with Tbolt, Extrasensory, Aura Sphere, and Shadow Ball along with either HP Grass or Ice. You know how water usually is trained to deal with Electricity? This thing can ruin that plan. Give it HP Grass and Tbolt and even Water/Grounds are not so threatening. Getting into a stall war with another bulky water? This thing has Pressure with Calm Mind with the possible ChestoRest backing it up. While not commonly seen on MonoElectric, this thing can ruin teams by itself. The only problem is that with its CM set, you only really get 2 Moves since ur other one is either Sub/Rest normally.
  • Thundurus-I: Nasty Plot Thundurus with LO is still scary to face. +2 Thunderbolts with HP Ice and your choice of a filler move can personally ruin teams by itself. I don't think much needs to be proven here about its might.
• Offensive Typing: electric is also one of the most useful types for hitting offensively. It hits almost everything neutrally with only grass or dragon resisting and ground with an immunity. However this is mitigated to an extent to the ever wonderful HP Ice which although nerfed creates the infamous pseudo BoltBeam offensive combination. On the top of my head the only two major things that can take it easily is a Magnezone, which you probably wouldn't face unless in a mirror match. The real threat is Mamoswine. It has excellent STAB in Earthquake to decimate most Electric types, has Ice Shard and Icicle Spear to punish Zapdos and Thundurus-I, as well as the ability Thick Fat which halves HP Ice. So it has an immunity to electric as well as a resistance now to HP ice thanks to its ability and HP ice was already nerfed this gen so that won't do much damage either.
• Speed: I mentioned this when talking about Sticky Web, but Electric isn't as fast as one would think. With only maybe four viable mons that have a base 100 or higher, Electric will get outrun by some of the faster types like Fighting with those base 108 hitters and Mega Medicham or stuff like Monoflying which on average uses mons at a base 100 Spe. Luckily Twave and Sticky Web are options, but just don't go in expecting you'll outrun most things with Electricity without support.
• Other Niches: Okay this part of the review is probably unecessary, but MonoElectric has some interesting niche Pokemon. Between its Megas it has a 135 base Spe and SpA in Manectric, but it also has the coveted Mold Breaker on Mega Ampharos which loves to nail things with Volt Absorb or Lightningrod. Some may consider this a joke, but Pikachu while not viable since it's hard to give proper support, still can have the offenses of Ubers with Light Ball reaching potentially 400+ Atk or SpA meaning it can go physical, special, or even mixed with a decent coverage of moves including Grass Knot, Knock Off, Fake Out, Iron Tail, Brick Break, etc. It also has access to Magnet Pull from Magnezone and Magneton, but since Steel is usually a non-issue for Electric teams, Sturdy is opened up for them. They also have Water immunities if they ever need them from Lanturn or Heliolisk through Water Absorb and Dry Skin respectively.

• Matchups:
  • Flying: Again this matchup can very greatly. Monoflying is immune to Sticky Web and they have Zapdos and Landorus among others to absorb Thunder Wave. This means that MonoElectric has to utilize its bulk to deal with faster threats since Monoflying rarely uses its own STAB unless it's like Togekiss. Also Landorus and Mega Charizard X are both able to take the electric hits and completely dent Electric teams with their respective STAB moves. Enemy Zapdos can outstall with Toxic+Pressure, but going into a mirror match is less than ideal for both teams. Since Monoflying has the coverage to play around it, Electric doesn't have the advantage in this matchup at all.
  • Water: Water can be either the most uphill match you will face, or it can be one of the easiest to sweep. With water's versatility, most teams have some form of dealing with Electric moves. However, they rely on one (two Pokemon at most) as their immunity ranging from Lanturn to Swampert. Gastrodon and Lanturn in particular are the most annoying to deal with since they are immune to STAB and have ways to mess with the opponent. Gastrodon could potentially setup Amnesia or Stockpile and then Recover. Toxic from Zapdos can stop this though but Grass Knot from Thundurus-I is the way to go. Lanturn can just keep recovering juice from Twaves and Thunderbolts while able to Heal Bell off Toxic from Zapdos and overall just be an annoying pivot. Also Grass Knot on Lanturn is only base 40. Once these two Pokemon are handled, the battle becomes much easier. Against the ever aggressive HO Swift Swim, Galvantula's ability to Sticky Web first turn will immensely stack the odds in Electric's favor.
  • Fairy: Fairy is also an interesting matchup for MonoElectric. While Electric can't really deal with stuff like Sylveon, Florges, and Clefable efficiently, Thundurus-I can still potentially Taunt them or just annoy them with Thunder Waves. Against a balanced Fairy team, it's all about chipping away at the bulky fairies. Coil+Iron Tail Eelektross can really help here since Iron Tail is a base 100 move without the worries of accuracy after a Coil or two. If MonoElectric faces HO Fairy, this becomes an easy matchup since Klefki and Whimsicott cannot Paralyze you which is their main role in order to get Mega Mawile or Togekiss setup. Also waiting out Dual Screens from Kleki isn't too hard with Zapdos ready to Defog everything including the potential Spikes while Foul Play or Draining Kiss damage does nothing.
  • Ground: This is supposedly the worst matchup that Electric can face. It's actually not as hard as one might think. Thundurus-I is going to be the main star having access to Nasty Plot, Hp Ice, and Grass Knot. Unboosted Grass Knot can still grab some important 2HKO's or possible OHKO's against ground types. Scarf Excadrill might be a pain since it's immune to Thunder Wave, but you have Sticky Web for that. If it's a Sand Rush + Air Balloon set, Rotom-W can check it effectively. However, Gravity can murder Electric. Landorus setting up Gravity for its teammates will bring your Levitaters and Flying mons to be exposed to Earthquakes and Earth Powers can destroy any sort of core you've built up. So depending on the team it can be one sided loss, or you can capitalize and win with a decent margin.
  • Dragon: Now this is probably the worst matchup for Electric. Dragon is one of the most difficult types to KO since the only really damaging moves you have are HP Ice or Ice Punch from Electivire. Latias can setup Dual Screens making even your HP ice go to nil, Zygarde isn't afraid to Coil War against Eelektross since Dragon Tail will force the switch, and Kyurem-Black is one of the harder mons to take out without using Focus Blast or after a boosed Eelektross using either Iron Tail or Drain Punch. Even Garchomp and Salamence which are arguably the easiest Pokemon to kill since HP ice actually can grab OHKO's, they still outrun most of the Electric types and deliver heavy damage first again unless Thundurus-I is being used. Mega Ampharos can't even do anything since it'll be too slow and it can't even boost to OHKO other dragons without dying first. This is just a really bad matchup for Electricity to handle.
  • Normal: This is probably the one type most specially oriented teams hate (unless it's physically bulky normal which just trolls everyone). Chansey and Porgyon-2 can essentially shut down MonoElectric by itself if Eelektross is gone. If Eelektross has Knock Off, it is a mandatory thing to do that above all else. However, the chances of setting up Coils to kill Chansey with Drain Punch is severely shortened with Toxic, because you still have to deal with Porygon-2. Porygon-2 is just an annoying Pokemon to deal with since it can Toxic, Recover, Ice Beam, Charge Beam, etc. Normal with these two Eviolite users will break you down eventually.
  • Grass: well it's not used often so I'm going to skip this one...will edit if forced too...
  • Ice: Ice can single handedly stop MonoElectric thanks to Kyurem-Black and Mamoswine. Both have the typing to destroy Mono Electric by themselves.
  • Poison: Mega Venusaur, Nidoking, Nidoqueen enough said
  • Steel: Ferrothorn can easily take hits from MonoElectric with only getting hit by maybe Zapdos Heat Wave and Fire Punch from Electivire. Also Excadrill is going to be scarfed on steel so that's still a huge threat to deal with.
  • Fighting: well Fighting just has too many wallbreakers to deal with. Guts AV Conkeldurr can do a lot of work against Electric especially Ice Punches towards your Zapdos and Thundurus-I. I guess you could setup Eelektross under some Dual Screen support from a Rotom, but even then it's not a matchup you'd like.
  • Other matchups are pretty even or are in favor of Electricity.

Example Team

Example Team:

Sticky Web Lead:
Galvantula @ Focus Sash
Ability: Compound Eyes
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Timid Nature
- Thunder
- Bug Buzz
- Sticky Web
- Energy Ball

Nasty Plot:
Thundurus (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Nasty Plot
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Grass Knot

Expert Belt Electivire
Electivire @ Expert Belt
Ability: Vital Spirit
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Wild Charge
- Power-Up Punch
- Ice Punch
- Earthquake

ChestoResto Raikou
Raikou @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Calm Mind
- Rest
- Thunderbolt
- Extrasensory

Specially Bulky Zapdos
Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SDef / 248 HP / 4 SAtk / 4 Spd
Calm Nature
- Heat Wave
- Defog
- Toxic
- Roost

Dual Screens Rotom:
Rotom-Wash @ Light Clay
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 Def
Bold Nature
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Reflect
- Light Screen
[show]
Please note that this team was made without trying to directly rip off some of the better teams found in MonoElectric. Although if you want to use this guideline your other options can include: Thunder Wave Thundurus, Coil Eelektross, Scrotom, and possibly AgiMegaAmpharos.

Since MonoElectric has trouble with a lot of high tier types, and does not have a solid advantage over the two types weak to it, it cannot be considered High Tier. It also struggles with many other types as seen above which drops it unfortunately from Mid Tier. Even though it's considered Low tier, this does not mean it is a bad type. Some of the greatest battlers in Monotype main Electricity and are notable for still going beyond their supposed matchups and winning through this adversity. Still, while MonoElectric is a type that you should not underestimate (even though people will still do), it is Low Tier.

*Special thanks to Tesla and Dagger who helped with this analysis. While the type and in general all play styles are Low tier, you do not want to mess with these pros with Electric. This analysis takes into consideration the type itself not the player wielding it.

 

[DoW]

Balanced Mono Electric: Low Tier
Okay I guess it's time for me to dissect the Electric type. First off Electric is one of those types that people will underestimate until you find a complete expert in the type. I know for a fact when I first started Monotype, I found MonoElectric to be one of the worst types in monotype because Flying and Water, the two types it should be beating, were for the most part staying ahead. Flying has both Zapdos and Thundurus-T while Water has many ways to deal with Electricity since that's one of the first things a Monowater team would be built around. After a month or so passed, I finally started seeing good Electric users and my way of thinking about them has changed. However through analysis of the type, no matter how good the player is, the playstyles and type in general is Low Tier. Even balanced Electric, which is the best playstyle Electric has to offer, is not enough to make it Mid Tier (maybe borderline).



First I guess outline the main threats to Electric. There's not that many viable options so most teams use the following: Mega Ampharos, Thundurus-I, Galvantula, Raikou, most forms of Rotom, Electivire, Magnezone (and sometimes Magneton), Eelektross, Mega Manectric, and finally Zapdos.

• Hazard Support:
  • Sticky Web: one good niche that Electricity has is Sticky Web support. Although most would assume Electric is already fast, most of the viable mons are not particularly fast (ironic I know). You have Thundurus-I at base 111 Spe, Raikou with 115, Zapdos at base 100, and then there's Mega Manectric with 135 Spe. This allows MonoElectric to not have to rely on Choice Scarves for your slower mons. You might ask if Sticky Web is redundant, especially with a type that primarily will paralyze you, but Sticky Web allows Electric to handle Ground a bit more easily. It also helps that said user has a solid 108 and access to moves like Giga Drain and Energy Ball with a very accurate Thunder.
  • Stealth Rock: this one is less used for the obvious reason: Stunfisk. Need I say more? Okay jokes aside, the only reason you would even consider Stunfisk is if you really need the Stealth Rock since it's the only mon that has access to it. I guess it could help with Fire (and maybe ice but who really cares about that), but it's totally unnecessary against Bug and Flying. You can already Sticky Web bug to get momentum or paralyze them and Flying you already are supposed to have an advantage over. Yeah there's really no reason to put Stealth Rock unless you like the derp pokemon.
  • Defog: With only one Pokemon that can use it in OU Monotype, Zapdos has the ability to get rid of hazards that might stack up. It won't even matter too much for your own hazards to get cleared since the only one up is Sticky Web which is only really complementary rather than vital.
• Volt-Turn:
  • With almost every Electric type having access to Volt Switch, MonoElectricity is easily able to rack up momentum. You even potentially have U-turn in Eelektross, but that's not important. The ability for practically your team to switch out into a better Pokemon easily brings much needed momentum which can be combined with Sticky Web for optimal results.
• Physical Threats:
  • Electivire: someone's probably going to laugh and call me a noob for even bringing up this Pokemon. I get it you 4th generation hater. However, Electivire is one of the only two viable Physical Electric types (without resorting to niches) the other being Eelektross. Electivire isn't even that bad for MonoElectric since it brings in much coverage that most of the team doesn't have access to. It has EQ, Fire Punch/Flamethrower, and even Cross Chop for its movepool.
  • Eelektross: probably one of the nicer Electric types since it has levitate like Rotom. Having access to Coil allows this bulky attacker to become a nightmare to deal with once setup. It's speed can become a nonissue with Twaves and Sticky Web setup, and even Rotom could run Dual Screens to help this. It's a bulky Pokemon that's hard to take down, and once it sets up those Coils you know you're in trouble.
• Boosters:
  • Raikou: Raikou is so deadly with Calm Mind. It could run a LO CM+3 set, SubCM, or even CM+ChestoRest. It gets a decent enough coverage with Tbolt, Extrasensory, Aura Sphere, and Shadow Ball along with either HP Grass or Ice. You know how water usually is trained to deal with Electricity? This thing can ruin that plan. Give it HP Grass and Tbolt and even Water/Grounds are not so threatening. Getting into a stall war with another bulky water? This thing has Pressure with Calm Mind with the possible ChestoRest backing it up. While not commonly seen on MonoElectric, this thing can ruin teams by itself. The only problem is that with its CM set, you only really get 2 Moves since ur other one is either Sub/Rest normally.
  • Thundurus-I: Nasty Plot Thundurus with LO is still scary to face. +2 Thunderbolts with HP Ice and your choice of a filler move can personally ruin teams by itself. I don't think much needs to be proven here about its might.
• Offensive Typing: electric is also one of the most useful types for hitting offensively. It hits almost everything neutrally with only grass or dragon resisting and ground with an immunity. However this is mitigated to an extent to the ever wonderful HP Ice which although nerfed creates the infamous pseudo BoltBeam offensive combination. On the top of my head the only two major things that can take it easily is a Magnezone, which you probably wouldn't face unless in a mirror match. The real threat is Mamoswine. It has excellent STAB in Earthquake to decimate most Electric types, has Ice Shard and Icicle Spear to punish Zapdos and Thundurus-I, as well as the ability Thick Fat which halves HP Ice. So it has an immunity to electric as well as a resistance now to HP ice thanks to its ability and HP ice was already nerfed this gen so that won't do much damage either.
• Speed: I mentioned this when talking about Sticky Web, but Electric isn't as fast as one would think. With only maybe four viable mons that have a base 100 or higher, Electric will get outrun by some of the faster types like Fighting with those base 108 hitters and Mega Medicham or stuff like Monoflying which on average uses mons at a base 100 Spe. Luckily Twave and Sticky Web are options, but just don't go in expecting you'll outrun most things with Electricity without support.
• Other Niches: Okay this part of the review is probably unecessary, but MonoElectric has some interesting niche Pokemon. Between its Megas it has a 135 base Spe and SpA in Manectric, but it also has the coveted Mold Breaker on Mega Ampharos which loves to nail things with Volt Absorb or Lightningrod. Some may consider this a joke, but Pikachu while not viable since it's hard to give proper support, still can have the offenses of Ubers with Light Ball reaching potentially 400+ Atk or SpA meaning it can go physical, special, or even mixed with a decent coverage of moves including Grass Knot, Knock Off, Fake Out, Iron Tail, Brick Break, etc. It also has access to Magnet Pull from Magnezone and Magneton, but since Steel is usually a non-issue for Electric teams, Sturdy is opened up for them. They also have Water immunities if they ever need them from Lanturn or Heliolisk through Water Absorb and Dry Skin respectively.

• Matchups:
  • Flying: Again this matchup can very greatly. Monoflying is immune to Sticky Web and they have Zapdos and Landorus among others to absorb Thunder Wave. This means that MonoElectric has to utilize its bulk to deal with faster threats since Monoflying rarely uses its own STAB unless it's like Togekiss. Also Landorus and Mega Charizard X are both able to take the electric hits and completely dent Electric teams with their respective STAB moves. Enemy Zapdos can outstall with Toxic+Pressure, but going into a mirror match is less than ideal for both teams. Since Monoflying has the coverage to play around it, Electric doesn't have the advantage in this matchup at all.
  • Water: Water can be either the most uphill match you will face, or it can be one of the easiest to sweep. With water's versatility, most teams have some form of dealing with Electric moves. However, they rely on one (two Pokemon at most) as their immunity ranging from Lanturn to Swampert. Gastrodon and Lanturn in particular are the most annoying to deal with since they are immune to STAB and have ways to mess with the opponent. Gastrodon could potentially setup Amnesia or Stockpile and then Recover. Toxic from Zapdos can stop this though but Grass Knot from Thundurus-I is the way to go. Lanturn can just keep recovering juice from Twaves and Thunderbolts while able to Heal Bell off Toxic from Zapdos and overall just be an annoying pivot. Also Grass Knot on Lanturn is only base 40. Once these two Pokemon are handled, the battle becomes much easier. Against the ever aggressive HO Swift Swim, Galvantula's ability to Sticky Web first turn will immensely stack the odds in Electric's favor.
  • Fairy: Fairy is also an interesting matchup for MonoElectric. While Electric can't really deal with stuff like Sylveon, Florges, and Clefable efficiently, Thundurus-I can still potentially Taunt them or just annoy them with Thunder Waves. Against a balanced Fairy team, it's all about chipping away at the bulky fairies. Coil+Iron Tail Eelektross can really help here since Iron Tail is a base 100 move without the worries of accuracy after a Coil or two. If MonoElectric faces HO Fairy, this becomes an easy matchup since Klefki and Whimsicott cannot Paralyze you which is their main role in order to get Mega Mawile or Togekiss setup. Also waiting out Dual Screens from Kleki isn't too hard with Zapdos ready to Defog everything including the potential Spikes while Foul Play or Draining Kiss damage does nothing.
  • Ground: This is supposedly the worst matchup that Electric can face. It's actually not as hard as one might think. Thundurus-I is going to be the main star having access to Nasty Plot, Hp Ice, and Grass Knot. Unboosted Grass Knot can still grab some important 2HKO's or possible OHKO's against ground types. Scarf Excadrill might be a pain since it's immune to Thunder Wave, but you have Sticky Web for that. If it's a Sand Rush + Air Balloon set, Rotom-W can check it effectively. However, Gravity can murder Electric. Landorus setting up Gravity for its teammates will bring your Levitaters and Flying mons to be exposed to Earthquakes and Earth Powers can destroy any sort of core you've built up. So depending on the team it can be one sided loss, or you can capitalize and win with a decent margin.
  • Dragon: Now this is probably the worst matchup for Electric. Dragon is one of the most difficult types to KO since the only really damaging moves you have are HP Ice or Ice Punch from Electivire. Latias can setup Dual Screens making even your HP ice go to nil, Zygarde isn't afraid to Coil War against Eelektross since Dragon Tail will force the switch, and Kyurem-Black is one of the harder mons to take out without using Focus Blast or after a boosed Eelektross using either Iron Tail or Drain Punch. Even Garchomp and Salamence which are arguably the easiest Pokemon to kill since HP ice actually can grab OHKO's, they still outrun most of the Electric types and deliver heavy damage first again unless Thundurus-I is being used. Mega Ampharos can't even do anything since it'll be too slow and it can't even boost to OHKO other dragons without dying first. This is just a really bad matchup for Electricity to handle.
  • Normal: This is probably the one type most specially oriented teams hate (unless it's physically bulky normal which just trolls everyone). Chansey and Porgyon-2 can essentially shut down MonoElectric by itself if Eelektross is gone. If Eelektross has Knock Off, it is a mandatory thing to do that above all else. However, the chances of setting up Coils to kill Chansey with Drain Punch is severely shortened with Toxic, because you still have to deal with Porygon-2. Porygon-2 is just an annoying Pokemon to deal with since it can Toxic, Recover, Ice Beam, Charge Beam, etc. Normal with these two Eviolite users will break you down eventually.
  • Grass: well it's not used often so I'm going to skip this one...will edit if forced too...
  • Ice: Ice can single handedly stop MonoElectric thanks to Kyurem-Black and Mamoswine. Both have the typing to destroy Mono Electric by themselves.
  • Poison: Mega Venusaur, Nidoking, Nidoqueen enough said
  • Steel: Ferrothorn can easily take hits from MonoElectric with only getting hit by maybe Zapdos Heat Wave and Fire Punch from Electivire. Also Excadrill is going to be scarfed on steel so that's still a huge threat to deal with.
  • Fighting: well Fighting just has too many wallbreakers to deal with. Guts AV Conkeldurr can do a lot of work against Electric especially Ice Punches towards your Zapdos and Thundurus-I. I guess you could setup Eelektross under some Dual Screen support from a Rotom, but even then it's not a matchup you'd like.
  • Other matchups are pretty even or are in favor of Electricity.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Example Team:

Sticky Web Lead:
Galvantula @ Focus Sash
Ability: Compound Eyes
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Timid Nature
- Thunder
- Bug Buzz
- Sticky Web
- Energy Ball

Nasty Plot:
Thundurus (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Nasty Plot
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Grass Knot

Expert Belt Electivire
Electivire @ Expert Belt
Ability: Motor Drive
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Wild Charge
- Power-Up Punch
- Ice Punch
- Earthquake

ChestoResto Raikou
Raikou @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Calm Mind
- Rest
- Thunderbolt
- Extrasensory

Specially Bulky Zapdos
Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SDef / 248 HP / 4 SAtk / 4 Spd
Calm Nature
- Heat Wave
- Defog
- Toxic
- Roost

Dual Screens Rotom:
Rotom-Wash @ Light Clay
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 Def
Bold Nature
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Reflect
- Light Screen

Please note that this team was made without trying to directly rip off some of the better teams found in MonoElectric. Although if you want to use this guideline your other options can include: Thunder Wave Thundurus, Coil Eelektross, Scrotom, and possibly AgiMegaAmpharos.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Since MonoElectric has trouble with a lot of high tier types, and does not have a solid advantage over the two types weak to it, it cannot be considered High Tier. It also struggles with many other types as seen above which drops it unfortunately from Mid Tier. Even though it's considered Low tier, this does not mean it is a bad type. Some of the greatest battlers in Monotype main Electricity and are notable for still going beyond their supposed matchups and winning through this adversity. Still, while MonoElectric is a type that you should not underestimate (even though people will still do), it is Low Tier.


*Special thanks to Tesla and Dagger who helped with this analysis. While the type and in general all play styles are Low tier, you do not want to mess with these pros with Electric. This analysis takes into consideration the type itself not the player wielding it.

I think another thing that needs to be mentioned is that there are a number of electric types that are better in OU than in monotype. For example, in Gen 4 Electivire was mostly used in conjunction with Gyarados since its niche was to take an electric move with motor drive, which would give it enough speed to actually be a threat. More recently I've seen Raichu run a similar set but with lightning rod to boost its SpA to decent levels. While these may be gimmicky in OU, they're outright unusable strategies in mono due to everything being at worst neutral to electric, meaning it's pretty much impossible to switch in on an electric attack.

Similarly, Electric is low on physical attackers meaning the physical attacking Thundurus set often seen in OU may seem like a good idea. However, with only sticky web available for entry hazards (outside of stunfisk), Defiant is suddenly far less usable, turning a threatening potential sweeper into a mere ok offensive attacker that would probably prefer a prankster special set.

For these reasons, I would recommend caution when deciding if it has any good pokes to use, as many of its options look better than they actually are.

 

[Pyritie]

Heliolisk is also pretty neat. Immune to ghost (and water if you have dry skin), has coverage out the ass, and also has glare to paralyse ground types and electric absorbers

I tried mono electric a while back and found that vital spirit was probably the better ability on electivire. Who's going to use an electric move against a mono electric team anyway?

 

[MinekoLucky]

I'll write a long article for Balanced Ice later.

 

[Sae]

I think another thing that needs to be mentioned is that there are a number of electric types that are better in OU than in monotype. For example, in Gen 4 Electivire was mostly used in conjunction with Gyarados since its niche was to take an electric move with motor drive, which would give it enough speed to actually be a threat. More recently I've seen Raichu run a similar set but with lightning rod to boost its SpA to decent levels. While these may be gimmicky in OU, they're outright unusable strategies in mono due to everything being at worst neutral to electric, meaning it's pretty much impossible to switch in on an electric attack.

Similarly, Electric is low on physical attackers meaning the physical attacking Thundurus set often seen in OU may seem like a good idea. However, with only sticky web available for entry hazards (outside of stunfisk), Defiant is suddenly far less usable, turning a threatening potential sweeper into a mere ok offensive attacker that would probably prefer a prankster special set.

For these reasons, I would recommend caution when deciding if it has any good pokes to use, as many of its options look better than they actually are.

That's why I didn't list all the available niche Pokemon, because in MonoElectric that's all they are: niches. MonoElectricity lacks the cores that make it as viable in the OU metagame than the Monotype meta. The list of Pokemon I wrote before I outlined the list shows the top Pokemon that you can use to some degree of effect in Monotype.

Heliolisk is also pretty neat. Immune to ghost (and water if you have dry skin), has coverage out the ass, and also has glare to paralyse ground types and electric absorbers

I tried mono electric a while back and found that vital spirit was probably the better ability on electivire. Who's going to use an electric move against a mono electric team anyway?

Heliolisk is an interesting niche because it has that base 109 speed to outrun the base 108 commonly found on fighting, but at the same time those fighting mons usaully still kill it. Heliolisk isn't bad and I do like the Dry Skin ability for water immunity, but like what ArticunoI (Death on Wings) was getting at was that these niches while useful in theory don't actually help that much overall.

Yeah I forgot to fix the Vital Spirit sorry about that Pyritie. I'll edit that in the sample team because that's what I originally meant.

 

[Zewwok]

Just a little niggle, Sae, you were talking about stunfisk as if it were a rock/electric type, it's actually a ground/electric. Which kinda makes it even worse.

 

[Sae]

Just a little niggle, Sae, you were talking about stunfisk as if it were a rock/electric type, it's actually a ground/electric. Which kinda makes it even worse.

Stealth Rock: this one is less used for the obvious reason: Stunfisk. Need I say more? Okay jokes aside, the only reason you would even consider Stunfisk is if you really need the Stealth Rock since it's the only mon that has access to it. I guess it could help with Fire (and maybe ice but who really cares about that), but it's totally unnecessary against Bug and Flying. You can already Sticky Web bug to get momentum or paralyze them and Flying you already are supposed to have an advantage over. Yeah there's really no reason to put Stealth Rock unless you like the derp pokemon.

I don't think I mentioned it as a Rock type Zewwok. I was more referring to Stealth Rock itself and the advantages of Stealth Rock against what it beats (aka Fire, Ice, Bug). It may have been a little unclear for which I apologize for but the whole paragraph was mainly about Stealth Rock so I thought that was self-explained. I know it's Electric/Ground I'm already assuming most people do, so I thought it would be a bit obvious what I was referring to. My bad though for a bad assumption.

 

[Zewwok]

Woops, my bad, sorry about that.

 

[unklewiggles]

balanced Steel Mono for mid/high tier.

while steel itself isn't the greatest STAB many steel mons bring dual typing that really help steel. steel teams are usually best with bulkey settup sweeepers such as mega scizor and aiegislash which are the most prominant, but other steel sweepers that can shine greatly are mega-mawile,swords dance excadrill, and bisharp

now steel is so great beacause its able to use defensive and phasing mons to make it much easier for youre pokemon to sleep.
now you may be thinking "but unkle theres so many fast fighting mons that could tear steel teams apart and you may be right but that when steel mons get fashionable and wear the wonderfull choice scarf, slapping a choice scarf on many mons, like heatran,excadrill and maybe even jirachi (i know this ins't gen 5 but scarfrachi is still a sneaky litle bugger) these scarfed mons help you catch the opponent off gaurd and get impotant K.Os

though possibly the best attribute of steel teams is a little lava dome named heatran that lets steel shake off its otherwise crippiling weakness to fire (bar empolean but i've never liked him anyway)
steels defenses have a way to deal with every weakness skarmony and bronzong for ground and air baloon anything for a short bit
skarmory, bronzong, and klefki for fighting
heatran and empolean for fire

steel is an amazing type for mono and balanced teams let it use all its greatest capabilitys without doing to much

i would give more information but it seems i'm just reinforcing things previously stated hope this helps in decision making

 

[Acast]

Balanced Normal for mid tier

Normal as a type isn't the greatest. One immunity to a fairly common offensive type (ghost) is all it really has going for it when we just look at type match ups. It has no resistances and a weakness to a very common offensive type (fighting). From an offensive standpoint, Normal types' STAB moves are even worse. 1 type is immune to normal (ghost again) while 2 resist it (steel, rock) and no type is weak to it. On paper, it really looks like normal should be as low-tier as possible, but the type is rich with incredibly viable pokemon that are exceptional at what they do. Normal types almost always have very large, and sometimes strange move pools to choose from (Exploud can learn Surf? Blissey can learn Flamethrower? Weird, but I'm not complaining.)

From a defensive perspective, normal couldn't ask for much more (other than a Normal/Ghost type, but that's beside the point). It has Chansey, arguably the best wall in existence right now. I would put calcs, but Chansey's bulk is so well known that I won't go through the trouble. Aside from eating focus blasts for breakfast, Chansey's pastimes include Toxic stalling and healing its teammates with Heal Bell/Aromatherapy and Wish. Chansey and Blissey defined the cleric role and they continue to be the best at it. There's also Miltank, which can serve a similar role to chansey because it has access to Heal Bell and reliable recovery (milk drink), but it sacrifices some special bulk for being able to take a physical hit better. Porygon2 is another great defensive normal type with some offensive capabilities.

On offense, normal has a lot of incredible outliers that excel at what they do. Meloetta is a special tank like no other, taking special hits easily and hitting back just as hard. Its Psychic typing also helps normal's weakness to fighting. Exploud's Scrappy ability allows it to use STAB Boomburst without fearing ghosts. Staraptor's Brave Bird will hurt anything that doesn't resist it and Close Combat can handle most of the pokemon that do resist it. Diggersby has STAB Ground attacks for grounded Steel and Rock types and impressive attack power due to Huge Power.

Smeargle doesn't really fit into either offense or defense, but it is still definitely worth mentioning. Smeargle allows normal teams to set up literally ANY move that they desire. This means normal can lay down Sticky Web, Stealth Rock, Spikes, or Toxic Spikes, just to name a few. Sticky web is a game changer. With Sticky Web support, the offensive pokemon on a normal team can sweep relatively easily. If Rocks and/or spikes are on the field as well, sashes aren't even an issue. Smeargle isn't on many normal teams from what I've seen, and I feel it is incredibly underrated, especially since it is the only way Normal can get Sticky Web.

So in short, the Normal typing is usually more of a hindrance to a Pokemon than a blessing. Steel and Fighting give it a tough time, and I can't honestly say that Normal has a positive type matchup against anything (feel free to correct me if you think otherwise). With Fighting being more common after the Talonflame ban, I don't think that normal is cut out for high tier. But it's the individual Pokemon within the type that make it plenty good enough to stay out of low tier.

 

[Acast]

Example balanced Normal team:

Smeargle (M) @ Focus Sash (Suicide lead. Goal: Get off as many support moves as possible before it dies.)
Ability: Own Tempo
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Magic Coat (If I predict a taunt or an opponent putting up a hazard of their own)
- Spore
- Sticky Web
- Stealth Rock

Chansey (F) @ Eviolite (Toxic staller and team healer all rolled into one)
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Toxic
- Seismic Toss

Miltank (F) @ Leftovers (Takes a V-create like its nothing. Thick Fat is an amazing ability in this fire-dominant generation)
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock (Just in case the opponent has a spinner/defogger and Smeargle is KOd)
- Heal Bell
- Milk Drink
- Seismic Toss

Diggersby (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Quick Attack
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge

Meloetta @ Assault Vest (This special bulk is insane. Not to mention Serene Grace + Charge Beam = guaranteed +1 to SpA. It hits hard at +1.)
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
- Psyshock
- Shadow Ball
- Dazzling Gleam
- Charge Beam

Exploud (M) @ Choice Specs (Amazing wall breaker. It can sweep entire teams if Smeargle succeeds in getting Sticky Web up)
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
- Boomburst
- Flamethrower
- Surf
- Ice Beam

 

[dinotrek27]

Example balanced Normal team:

Smeargle (M) @ Focus Sash (Suicide lead. Goal: Get off as many support moves as possible before it dies.)
Ability: Own Tempo
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Magic Coat (If I predict a taunt or an opponent putting up a hazard of their own)
- Spore
- Sticky Web
- Stealth Rock

Chansey (F) @ Eviolite (Toxic staller and team healer all rolled into one)
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Toxic
- Seismic Toss

Miltank (F) @ Leftovers (Takes a V-create like its nothing. Thick Fat is an amazing ability in this fire-dominant generation)
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock (Just in case the opponent has a spinner/defogger and Smeargle is KOd)
- Heal Bell
- Milk Drink
- Seismic Toss

Diggersby (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Quick Attack
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge

Meloetta @ Assault Vest (This special bulk is insane. Not to mention Serene Grace + Charge Beam = guaranteed +1 to SpA. It hits hard at +1.)
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
- Psyshock
- Shadow Ball
- Dazzling Gleam
- Charge Beam

Exploud (M) @ Choice Specs (Amazing wall breaker. It can sweep entire teams if Smeargle succeeds in getting Sticky Web up)
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
- Boomburst
- Flamethrower
- Surf
- Ice Beam

A) Replace Smeargle you already have a reliable stealth rocker in Miltank and you are not getting past Skarm and Mandibuzz defogging anyway. I also recommend replacing stone edge with return on Diggersby it's not helping you get past Skarm anyway. And replace ice beam with Focus Blast on Exploud

 

[Zewwok]

I feel like you can't mention steel teams without talking abouts it's immunity core. With proper prediction, you can avoid damage from literally any super effective move thrown your way. Aegislash, Heatran and Skarmory form a core that can overwhelm teams entirely on its own. The best part of this core is that all three are not just dead weights with immunities, but they also put pressure on the opposing team with hazards, phasing, or just offensive presence. Combine this with an Excadrill, which further restricts the opponents options for gaining momentum (volt switch), and you can walk all over teams without the proper coverage. Definitely high tier.

 

[Acast]

I feel like you can't mention steel teams without talking abouts it's immunity core. With proper prediction, you can avoid damage from literally any super effective move thrown your way. Aegislash, Heatran and Skarmory form a core that can overwhelm teams entirely on its own. The best part of this core is that all three are not just dead weights with immunities, but they also put pressure on the opposing team with hazards, phasing, or just offensive presence. Combine this with an Excadrill, which further restricts the opponents options for gaining momentum (volt switch), and you can walk all over teams without the proper coverage. Definitely high tier.

Agreed. And you also have Ferrothorn's immunity to powder moves which isn't necessarily a type immunity, but still very helpful for preventing the opponent from building momentum, as you said. I forgot to mention the immunity core when I originally nominated Steel a couple weeks ago.