Up In the Air--Monotype Flying RMT

[Elgoo]

The Team​

Team building process

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I love Gyarados, I really wanted to do something really awesome and clever based around him

I knew how awesome of an anti lead dragonite is, so I decided to throw him in there.

I was starting to have a little too much offense, and not enough bulk, and I saw a nasty rock weakness, so I put in the best stone edge taker I could Think of, Annoying Gliscor! Its sub protect toxic business was perfect for this team.

I needed something that could really just get in there and kick some serious anus, I was a little sketchy about adding another 4x ice weakness but Salamence's raw badassness overlooked.

I was originally going to do an offensive set, but I already have a lot of raw power, so I decided to use Zapdos's bulk to my advantage, and utilize a defensive stall type set.

With Zapdos' addition to the team, my ice weakness grew even stronger, so I added his cousin, Articuno! They both cover a weakness of the other and help with the team. I chose the bulky speedy set because the pressure weakness is awesome for draining out those deadly stone edge users.

I really love the idea of extremely unexpected threats, such as Offensive Deoxys-D or Specs Gyarados... like me! No one expects to get hit by a sub calm mind Deoxys or a fire blast on a Scarm because they switched in on a Gyarados thinking of outrage. That is what I wanted to do with this team.

Onto the team!​

Dragonite (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Multiscale
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 SAtk / 4 Spd
Quiet Nature (+SAtk, -Spd)
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- ExtremeSpeed
- Earthquake

This is your typical antilead set. Sits there and takes the ice attack like a bawse and (usually) snags me at least one kill, I don't really bother trying to keep him alive because it isnt really good for anything pas hitting hard the first turn or two. I Sometimes switch it in on a low health enemy after a death on my side to snag the kill with extremespeed, but that is a pretty rare occurance.

Salamence (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Moxie
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Zen Headbutt

This is my main Physical sweeper. Typical dragon dance set. I dragon dance on the switch, I have a little trouble deciding to go with moxie or outrage, This is one pokemon I really am undecided on It doesn't do a TON for my team but it is definitely nice to have. Any suggestions to what do do here?

Gliscor (M) @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 184 Def / 72 Spd
Impish Nature
- Substitute
- Protect
- Earthquake
- Toxic

This is the typical pisser offer wall physical wall set. This poke is really awesome against anything that isn't steel. (noone uses poison XP) nothing special here, just toxic sub and protect your little heart out and gain your awesome hp back.

Gyarados (F) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Mild Nature (+SAtk, -Def)
- Fire Blast
- Hydro Pump
- Thunderbolt
- Outrage

This is my coo coo for coco puffs set. Absolutely no-one will expect a choice specs gyarados. I kill so many ferrothorns and skarmorys with fire blast. Outrage is for dragons, and Tbolt is there for coverge. Don't tell me to get of rid if her, she stays. the team is based off of her XP

Zapdos @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 236 Def / 24 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Heat Wave
- Roost
- Hidden Power [Grass]

Again, the typical set. I went for the bulky set because i don't really need all the raw power, Thats what I have mence and gyarados for. Thunderbolt for STAB, heat wave and HP for coverage, and roost for pressure stalling, pretty basic.

Skarmory @Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP/232 SpD/24 Spe
Careful Nature (+SpD, -SpA)
-Spikes/Toxic
-Roost
-Brave Bird
-Taunt

will add description soon.

 

[Elgoo]

Threat list

Threat list:
Rock. Anything Rock. The only thing I have to stop stone edge is Gliscor. After Gliscor is gone anything that is fast and packs stone edge will demolish my entire team. Stealth rock also harms a lot of my team pretty bad.

Ice. Half of my team is 4x weak to ice, articuno and gyarados are my only protections from it.

 

[Majestic Electric]

You forgot to mention Ice. More than half of your team is very weak to any Ice attack that comes there way. Also, beware of Stealth Rock. This is why mono-Flying is pretty hard to pull off. Stealth Rock makes life unbearable for Articuno, taking half his HP away when he comes in! I think a Specially Defensive Skarmory could help you out in this situation, since this is a mono-Flying team:

Skarmory @Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP/232 SpD/24 Spe
Careful Nature (+SpD, -SpA)
-Spikes
-Roost
-Brave Bird
-Taunt

Taunt prevents the opponent from setting up on your team, and also prevents Stealth Rock on your side of the field. Spikes helps to stack on the damage, giving you the advantage and helps you to sweep. Brave Bird provides a way for Skarmory to damage foes and prevents him from becoming Taunt bait.

If I think of anything else, I'll let you know. I hope I helped! :)

 

[Elgoo]

You forgot to mention Ice. More than half of your team is very weak to any Ice attack that comes there way. Also, beware of Stealth Rock. This is why mono-Flying is pretty hard to pull off. Stealth Rock makes life unbearable for Articuno, taking half his HP away when he comes in! I think a Specially Defensive Skarmory could help you out in this situation, since this is a mono-Flying team:

Skarmory @Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP/232 SpD/24 Spe
Careful Nature (+SpD, -SpA)
-Spikes
-Roost
-Brave Bird
-Taunt

Taunt prevents the opponent from setting up on your team, and also prevents Stealth Rock on your side of the field. Spikes helps to stack on the damage, giving you the advantage and helps you to sweep. Brave Bird provides a way for Skarmory to damage foes and prevents him from becoming Taunt bait.

If I think of anything else, I'll let you know. I hope I helped! :)

Do I replace articuno with this?

 

[Majestic Electric]

Do I replace articuno with this?

Sorry, forgot to mention that! Yes you should. Articuno is the weakest link on your team from what I can see.

Also, you can try out Magic Bounce Xatu to prevent all forms of hazards and moves such as Leech Seed, bouncing them back on your foe's side. I think a Dual Screens set would be beneficial for your team:

Xatu @Light Clay
Trait: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP/252 Def/4 Spe
Impish Nature (+Def, -SpA)
-Light Screen
-Reflect
-U-turn
-Wish

With screens up, your team will have much higher defenses and will be able to take hits a lot better. Wish support is also helpful for your sweepers by restoring health. U-turn scouts your opponent's team. I'm not really sure who you can replace on your team for this. Test both Skarmory and Xatu on PO and see who does a better job at helping your team.

 

[Don Honchkrorleone]

Thank God someone else is playing Monotype! I also happen to have a mono-flying, and it's interstingly focused around Gyarados too (but mine is a SubDD). And your team is kinda solid and funny to use.

Since you don't want to switch your Gyarados and fear Dragons, why don't replace Outrage with Ice Beam. Outrage just locks you, and isn't boosted by Choice Specs. Since killing Dragons is Outrage's sole reason, I think you can give Ice Beam a try.

And Majestic Electric is right. Your team has a HUGE Ice weakness. Even your Gyarados can be destroyed by a strong Ice attack (I run a Specs Glaceon, so I know how strong Ice moves can be). Articuno unfortunately sucks. Even though in your team it's supposed to take Ice attacks, most of pokemon that use Ice moves also has something that can really cripple Articuno. Skarmory is your best bet, as ME said. I faced one and it survived many of my Blizzards (Thank god Froslass got a crit on Thunderbolt). Switching the Ice bird for the Steel one is the best thing to do.

I'm busy now, so I'll rate the rest later.

 

[law-kun]

I've peaked at number one using my flying team, if you want to look at another team for ideas then I posted it on this site a while ago.

While Skarmory is decent at blocking blizzards it is not completely reliable. My skarmory is physical based, and walls nearly all rock attacks, as well as physical ice attacks from Weaville and Mamoswine. This is something that Gliscor can not do, which is I chose Skarmory as my physical wall.

Ice teams are the bane of any Flying team, not only do you have to deal with 100% accurate scarfed/spec blizzards but they also have ice shard to get in the way of fast revenge killers, such as your Salamance or my Landorus. I've had to resort to a specially defensive sleep talk Gyrados, which does fairly well at taking blizzards.

My personal theory is that you should have at LEAST one choice scarf user in a monotype team. Unlike in other tiers all the pokemon in a team have to share one type. This allows choice scarfers to switch in and spam a single move repeatedly. Salamance may be able to do this well if you want to try it. It will also help in revenge killing Terakion, who is THE biggest rock threat to your team, and with Heracross is the biggest threat from fighting teams.

 

[Elgoo]

Skarm is sooo much better for my special wall position than articuno, thanks a ton