MPL VI Coverage

Art by Ticken.

Introduction

MPL is the premier Monotype team tournament each year and features every standard Monotype format starting from BW up to the current generation, SS. This is the first MPL season that managers have been given the opportunity to retain up to two players from last year's draft. Additionally, the first DLC pack was scheduled to be released early in the season, so many managers opted for active SS builders in order to gain an upper hand with the new metagame when selecting retains and during the draft. With many veteran players absent, new manager pairings, increased manager prices, and retains being finalized, let's see how things panned out for each of our eight teams for season VI of MPL!

Teams & Power Rankings

The Power Rankings were made by a representative from each team!

Overall

1. Goldenrod Gengars

SS (4), SM (1), ORAS (5), BW (8), Bo3 (1)

2. Hau'oli Houndooms

SS (2), SM (3), ORAS (4), BW (1), Bo3 (2)

3. Meteor Falls Miniors

SS (3), SM (4), ORAS (1), BW (6), Bo3 (4)

4. Trick House Treeckos

SS (1), SM (8), ORAS (2), BW (7), Bo3 (8)

5. Hearthome Honchkrows

SS (6), SM (4), ORAS (8), BW (3), Bo3 (3)

6. Dreamyard Darkrais

SS (5), SM (2), ORAS (7), BW (5), Bo3 (6)

7. Blackthorn Bucks

SS (7), SM (6), ORAS (6), BW (4), Bo3 (5)

8. Mirage Island Milotics

SS (8), SM (6), ORAS (3), BW (2), Bo3 (7)

Final Standings

Team Name (Win-Loss-Tie | # of Points)

• Goldenrod Gengars (4-2-1 | 9)
• Hearthome Honchkrows (3-2-2 | 8)
• Blackthorn Bucks (3-2-2 | 8)
• Trick House Treeckos (3-3-1 | 7)
• Meteor Falls Miniors (3-3-1 | 7)
• Hau'oli Houndooms (3-4-0 | 6)
• Mirage Island Milotics (2-3-2 | 5)
• Dreamyard Darkrais (1-3-3 | 5)

Metagame Trends Throughout the Tour

SS

SS Monotype is a unique metagame compared to the other generations due to the loss of Mega Stones, Z-Moves, and half of the Pokédex, resulting in a more matchup-focused metagame. While every metagame experienced these changes, Monotype was hit harder than the rest, as while the tier can function with enough Pokémon to make a viable team as it stands, it prefers more Pokémon diversity for each type. This would allow for more tier flexibility and greater outplaying odds regardless of the type matchup. However, this is not the case. You can still build to win against a poor matchup, but that is much harder to do than in previous generations for most types. This leads to more prevalent types being used more frequently, while many are nearly forgotten.

Over MPL, there were some clear winners in viable typings, such as Fire, Water, and Fairy, which were among the most used. Fire teams have a few tools that make them viable, namely an entry hazard setter, access to sun, Heavy-Duty Boots, Volcarona, and Libero Cinderace. Volcarona and Cinderace are great tools in tours due to their wallbreaking power, allowing them to pressure many types through sheer force. For example, Cinderace can run Bulk Up + Zen Headbutt to take advantage of Toxapex on common Water and Poison teams. Volcarona can run offensive Roost sets that allow it to take advantage of Poison and Fairy while setting up Quiver Dance for free. These two can also form a dangerous core of sweepers. However, a downside to Fire is that two matchups it can not take on, Dragon and Water, are very common in the metagame, preventing it from being an overused type. The main two archetypes for Water are offensive rain and bulky balance. Bulky Water started to be used later in MPL with multiple Calm Mind users such as Keldeo and Primarina, alongside pivots such as Teleport + Heavy-Duty Boots Slowking. Water also can take on other top types such as Fire, Dragon, and Steel. While bulky Water is the primary archetype it uses, there are multiple other viable archetypes, such as Sticky Web offense, rain, balance, and even stall. Pokémon such as Klefki made Fairy much better, allowing the type of abundance of setup to succeed due to its ability to set screens and access to Spikes. Galarian Weezing started to see use later in the tour, as it allows Fairy teams to absorb Toxic Spikes and set their own, servicing the type's setup sweepers. Toxic Spikes can help in matchups such as Normal, Dragon, and opposing Fairy teams. Primarina, Azumarill, and Togekiss are setup sweepers that takes advantage of screens but tends to use Substitute to grant them more cover to set up. Substitute on Azumarill and Primarina notably allows them to better take on matchups such as Fire. Specifically, it allows them to set up on Torkoal and proceed to sweep Fire teams. All these different attributes allow Fairy teams to take on traditionally bad matchups such as Poison, Fire, and Steel. This is how these types stay dominant in the metagame and take advantage of pretty much every other type, making them very powerful.

This MPL gave birth to many sets for commonly used Pokémon, creating new metagame trends. Overall, this MPL helped define the current SS metagame due to the DLC having happened during the tour duration.

Replays

• vs. (Grass vs. Dragon)
• vs. (Water vs. Fighting)
• vs. (Poison vs. Psychic)

USM

The first appearance of arguably the most balanced Monotype metagame as a past generation made for a very interesting mesh of new trends with tried-and-true old ones. Among the most notable of them is the reemergence of Water as the most used type in MPL VI, with a whopping 15% of usage after its apparent downfall in recent team tournaments. Viewed by many as a high-tier type throughout the entire generation, Water's wide array of both archetype and Pokémon options allowed it to adapt to the metagame again. Notably, balance builds started running Tapu Fini more and replacing Mantine in favor of Rotom-W, which enabled them to have a better matchup against Dragon, Dark, and Flying teams. Rain made some appearances as well, often adding Empoleon as a more reliable Defogger to go alongside Toxapex defensively. Another type that has returned to the limelight is Normal, almost tripling its usage percentage in comparison to last MPL while having an outstanding winrate of 73%, the highest of all types in USM Monotype. Even though the type was never known for having heaps of favorable matchups, the reemergence of Z-Conversion Porygon-Z over Diggersby (or alongside it, with Mega Pidgeot over Mega Lopunny) made it get an upper hand versus popular builds such as Steel, Flying, and Psychic without compromising Normal's main appeal: consistency.

Steel, Flying, and Psychic maintained their average usage frequency this MPL, having some of the tournament's biggest successes due to the combination of their consistency, relative versatility, and new metagame adaptations. With Autotomize Celesteela not being nearly as effective due to Metronome now resetting boosts after Protect or after a sack, balanced Steel teams bounced back as the type's most popular variant, starting to favor specially defensive Air Slash Celesteela for the threat of Kommo-o instead, as well as more defensive Heatran sets to annoy Psychic, opposing Steel, and Dark. Flying teams mostly converged to a bulky offense build taking advantage of Mega Aerodactyl's role compression as a Stealth Rock setter, revenge killer, and effective annoyer with Taunt plus its usefulness against Dragon and Electric, as well as Tornadus-T's Defog support. Such a team structure enabled Flying builds to run, on the same team, fearsome wallbreakers like Dragonite and Thundurus-T while stacking valuable type immunities to go with the defensive juggernaut Celesteela, making them a driving force in MPL VI. Last but not least, the Nasty Plot Deoxys-S set became even more used on Psychic, allowing the type to fare better against Flying, Water, and Dragon. Other good types like Dark, Electric, and Grass continued to be triumphant, despite those not being worked around much in terms of innovation.

As for the remaining types, Dragon in particular took a huge blow in the yearly transition, mainly due to the aforementioned metagame adaptations against it. Being at its peak at MPL V, it could not repeat the same performance in this edition—it had a drop of around 2% in usage, and a poor winrate of only 31%, the worst it has ever had. In the same vein, Fairy's relatively static state from last year in tandem with its predictability to experienced players made it boast both its lowest-ever usage and its lowest-ever winrate. Poison getting used only four times in the whole tournament was surprising given its frequent uses in previous team tournaments, while Ground proved to be increasingly unreliable throughout the tour by suffering defeats against Steel and Fairy even with Mega Steelix. Just like in other MPL editions, low-viability types like Fire, Fighting, Ice, Rock, and Ghost had next to no usage.

Replays

• vs. (Ground vs. Steel)
• vs. (Water vs. Ground)
• vs. (Normal vs. Flying)

ORAS

Since last MPL, a staple in the tier, Mega Medicham, has been banned. While this could have been thought to have decreased the viability of Psychic teams, it had no such effect. However, Fighting teams became noticeably worse. Psychic teams began to run other Mega Pokémon such as Gardevoir, Gallade, and Latias. Mega Gardevoir is the most common of them, using defensive Wish sets that allow Psychic teams to better handle threats such as Mega Sharpedo as well as Dark and Dragon teams. Mega Gallade can be also run to have a better matchup against Normal and Steel teams. The least used Mega Evolution, Mega Latias, was tailored for certain matchups, running bulkier sets with BoltBeam coverage to take on Flying teams better. It was typically used on teams without Deoxys-S, the most common anti-Flying measure used on Psychic teams. Pokémon such as Nasty Plot Deoxys-S became more common in ORAS to take on Water and Flying teams. Jirachi ran Substitute + Fire Punch as a means to better take on threats such as Bisharp. Psychic teams won a staggering 11 out of 16 matches. One shocking part of ORAS this MPL was that Flying drastically fell, going from one of the highest win rates in MPL 5 to having a rather abysmal record of winning only 4 out of 14 matches it was used. The other commonly used type in Water only had an average record of this MPL, winning only 6 out of the 14 matches, leaving Psychic as the only commonly used top type with an outstanding performance.

However, within the lesser-used types, two in particular won nearly every game they were used. These types were Normal and Fire, both being used in five games and winning four of them. Dark is another type that's seen some success as an anti-metagame type this tour. Normal has always been deemed a solid type thanks to its solid defensive core backed by its insanely powerful offensive core. This MPL, more people, started running Heliolisk, a way to work around the Water matchup, which is traditionally challenging to win thanks to Keldeo. While Fire has always been a type with strong offensive Pokémon, its ability to manage hazards is relatively low, making it challenging to use. Fire teams have never been bad, though; they need to be used to take on certain matchups such as against players who frequently use Steel and Psychic. However, it takes a very high ceiling of skill to use them properly. The primary reason Fire was used this MPL was because Quiver Dance-boosted Volcarona decimates Psychic teams and, of course, due to its natural type advantage can also run through Steel teams relatively easily. Dark was another type that popped up this MPL more. It is used with Cacturne to take on Water teams, as well as beat down Psychic teams. Between Cacturne and Sableye, it is tough for Water teams to break past both unless they run non-Choice item Keldeo. Overall these were the main interesting types used in MPL. Not much other innovation happened this MPL, and it was almost more reused teams or teams that were slightly tweaked.

Replays

• vs. (Fire vs. Ground)
• vs. (Psychic vs. Bug)
• vs. (Poison vs. Water)

BW

This year BW had a shift in top type usage from last year. Psychic pushed its insanely high usage even further from 20% to just under 25%, while Dragon and Steel fell off, with Fighting and Water in their place. BW Monotype follows the BW OU banlist, so we had to abide by their sleep ban restriction. There are not many sleep users in BW Monotype, but it would still leave a mark on building and battling regardless of how widespread it was.

Psychic-type usage surged again this year with a near 5% increase, which is sizable when you compare it to 16 other types. Psychic-type teams typically consist of bulky offensive builds and take advantage of the secondary typing diversity to respond to whatever it anticipates. Early on, many players opted to use Ghost-type teams to keep Psychic in check; however, Jirachi's neutrality to Ghost makes this unreliable. Types such as Bug, Steel, and Fire have an easier matchup against Psychic, but many of the other top types such as Water make bringing one of the aforementioned types risky, as evidenced by Fire's 0% usage.

Fighting-type teams used the same standard archetype as years prior, but there was one exception, Breloom. The main things Breloom brought to Fighting were Fighting-type priority, Grass-type STAB, and Spore, but due to the sleep move ban, Spore was no longer legal. This change made people skeptical about how well Fighting-type teams could respond, as Fighting-type teams in general were on a decline. Miraculously, they had more usage than the year before, with people replacing Breloom on 11/18 teams for Toxicroak as their rain answer. While Fighting-type teams lost more than they won, which could be attributed to Psychic's surge in popularity, it is a good reminder that there is still innovation in old gens.

Replays

• vs. (Bug vs. Dragon)
• vs. (Water vs. Steel)
• vs. (Dragon vs. Psychic)

Highlight Matches

BO3: 1 True Lycan vs. Attribute

1 True Lycan and Attribute are both phenomenal players and builders across multiple generations in Monotype. This match is considered a highlight game, as both are well established within the community as some of the best players the tier offers. While bad matchups infested the series, both players ended up fighting hard to take the games, which made for a worthwhile series to watch. The series started with an SS game, Dragon vs. Water. 1 True Lycan was able to position himself well enough with Substitute + Freeze Dry Kyurem that he was able to win with it. The second match of the series was in USM Monotype, Psychic vs. Dark. Even though 1 True Lycan had a great matchup against Attribute again, Attribute managed to pull out some neat techs and outplay his opponent to take that game. Attribute led with Mew and wore down Mega Sableye and Mandibuzz with Will-O-Wisp, Knock Off, and Roost. Attribute then patiently waited for a good time to set up Z-Happy Hour Jirachi, allowing him to wear down most of the 1 True Lycan's Dark team, which allowed Mega Latias and Reuniclus to clean up. The last match of the series was in ORAS. Once again, 1 True Lycan had a phenomenal type of advantage, Fairy vs. Dark. 1 True Lycan ended up winning this exchange, being able to take the series.

• vs. (Dragon vs. Water (SS))
• vs. (Dark vs. Psychic (SM))
• vs. (Fairy vs. Dark (ORAS))

SS: Frnen vs. Conflux

This matchup pretty much defied SS Monotype being known as a metagame where getting a lousy matchup practically loses the game. In this case, it was Fire vs. Water; it also looked like a typical game in the beginning, with rain Water destroying a Fire team. However, Frnen was able to turn it around quickly. After Urshifu-R was burned due to Volcarona's Flame Body, Frnen was able to safely bring in Talonflame, set up a Swords Dance, and wear down Conflux's team with Dual Wingbeat, keeping its Gale Wings intact. After Conflux was able to play around Talonflame and force it out, the second threat in Cinderace was able to come in. From there, Frnen used Bulk Up multiple times, allowing Cinderace to sweep with Libero High Jump Kick, Sucker Punch, and Pyro Ball. Frnen played his win conditions well and won several Sucker Punch mind games, allowing him to take the game rather than lose this rather bad matchup.

vs. (Fire vs. Water)

SM: Zap vs Bitana

This match was interesting to spectate, as both players were ranked high on the power rankings. At Team Preview, the matchup was slightly favored towards Zap, as both Breloom and Whimsicott could apply large amounts of pressure on the opposing Dark team, while Mega Venusaur acted as a solid defensive check vs the majority of Bitana's team. However, Bitana played aggressively with his offensive options from the get-go and managed to maintain his front footing throughout majority of the game. Applying solid offensive pressure with Hydreigon and preventing Zap's Mega Venusaur from recovering HP with Synthesis by setting up sand with his own Mega Tyranitar were some notable plays executed by Bitana. Ultimately, the match came down to a single paralysis at the later part of the game. As Hydreigon got paralyzed on a turn that could've potentially won Bitana the game, Zap set up a Swords Dance with Breloom and dismantled the rest of Bitana's team, winning the game.

vs. (Grass vs. Dark)

Playoffs

Only two of the teams projected to make playoffs from the Power Rankings made it to playoffs. The Hau'oli Houndooms and the Meteor Falls Miniors did not make playoffs, and instead, the Hearthome Honchkrows and an extremely underrated team in the Blackthorn Bucks secured a spot among the top 4 teams. The semifinals matchups were Goldenrod Gengars vs Trick House Treeckos and Hearthome Honchkrows vs Blackthorn Bucks. Although the Hearthome Honchkrows managed to pull of a win in semifinals without much difficulty, Goldenrod Gengars vs Trick House Treeckos proceeded to go to a tiebreaker. SS Monotype was added in the tiebreaker by default; the Goldenrod Gengars opted to add Bo3, which was easily their strongest slot, followed by which Trick House Treeckos decided to add BW. The Goldenrod Gengars won the SS game, while the Trick House Treeckos won in the slot they selected. As a result, it came down to the Bo3 slot, in which to everyone's surprise the Trick House Treeckos emerged victorious and advanced to the finals.

vs.

• Hearthome Honchkrows (5) vs. Trick House Treeckos (0)
• SS: Eternal Spirit vs Floss
• SS: Fírnen vs MetaRiolu7
• SS: TheArchitect_ vs Bouff
• SM: ima vs Prosaic
• SM: Gondra vs LuckyPiper
• ORAS: Star vs taide
• BW: Sabella vs Crashy
• Bo3: 1 True Lycan vs Wanka | #1 (BW) / #2 (SS) / #3 (ORAS)

The Monotype Premier League VI finals were between Hearthome Honchkrows and Trick House Treeckos. Although Trick House Treeckos had a much stronger SS Monotype core, Hearthome Honchkrows had a stronger old generations core, leaving the finals in anyone's favor, with equal odds at victory for both teams. Eternal Spirit vs Floss was easily the highlight among the SS matchups, as both players had two of the best SS records in the tour. The matchup was Psychic vs Poison, and although the matchup seemed favored to Psychic on Team Preview, Floss had a Drapion and Scolipede, resulting in the match being much more even. Both sides made certain questionable plays at times, but Eternal Spirit managed to nab the win thanks to some luck in his favor. The Gondra vs LuckyPiper game was Ground vs Electric, meaning Gondra had an immediate type advantage. Although things did not appear to going well for Gondra at the start of the game, he managed to turn it around towards the end of the game and came out as the victor. Star vs taide was a fun game, as Star used a Steel team against Taide's Psychic. As Star's team did well against Psychic, by nature, he was able to win without much difficulty. Sabella vs Crashy was an interesting match, with Sabella using Water against Crashy's Bug featuring some unique choices such as Accelgor and Parasect, which you wouldn't see on a standard Bug team. Although Crashy's Dry Skin Parasect proves to be amazing in the Water matchup, Sabella emerged victorious thanks to his rational playing and some distinctive sets such as Encore + Toxic Politoed that proved to be useful in the matchup. 1 True Lycan vs Wanka was easily the highlight matchup of the finals, as both players are known to be extremely good and noteworthy players in the tier. The Bo3 series started off with a fairly even BW match, with Wanka's Steel team managing to emerge as the victor against 1 True Lycan's Bug. The next game of the series was SS, with the matchup being Psychic vs Normal. Although the matchup was slightly in Wanka's favor on Team Preview, 1 True Lycan managed to turn it around at the latter part of the game with some great playing and some crucial luck in his favor. The Bo3 series came down to the final ORAS game, with the matchup being Water vs Fairy. 1 True Lycan managed to pull through with the slight advantage on Team Preview and win the series. With this, the Hearthome Honchkrows emerged victorious with just five games being played, resulting in a rather anticlimatic finals. Nonetheless, the Hearthome Honchkrows claimed the title in the sixth edition of the Monotype Premier League with a dominating showing throughout the entirety of playoffs.

Manager Interviews

Closing Thoughts

After fierce competition over the course of eleven weeks, the Hearthome Honchkrows are your new Champions for the second time in MPL history! This year was our first introduction into seeing what the SS metagame has to offer in a large team tournament environment, and while the metagame was not as balanced as SM Monotype, there is a lot of promise on the horizon with the upcoming DLC release. Make sure to check out the MPL VI replay thread archive and stay tuned for next year's MPL!