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Art by bro torterra.
Who needs type variety when you when you can have six Dragon-types? Those are the words that stand before a user when they enter the Monotype room on Pokémon Showdown! And in reality, who wouldn't want a team of six Dragon-types? After all, the Dragon typing type is known for its power, with most pseudo-legendaries and plenty of legendaries being given this coveted typing. And now, within the Indigo Disk Monotype metagame, Dragon stands in contention for the best typing, with its incredible offensive and now defensive toolkit pushing it further than ever before.
Of course, Dragon didn't start off as the best typing; with power creep initially hitting it hard with incredible threats such as Flutter Mane and Chien-Pao dominating the tier, Dragon teams found it incredibly difficult to keep up early on, even with access to a few new offensive options. Dragon teams ended up being on the lower end of viability throughout the pre-HOME metagame, and while their prospects would improve come HOME and Hisuian Goodra's introduction to Monotype, it would still take a while and two sets of DLC for Dragon teams to truly take off.
Dragon teams have had no shortage of new options given to it in Scarlet and Violet; nearly all of them have become dominant meta threats that enabled incredible offensive pressure for Dragon, while a few have given Dragon defensive stability.
Roaring Moon would stand originally alone as the only Paradox Pokémon given to Dragon teams. With its solid Dark typing, blazing base 119 Speed, powerful base 139 Attack, incredible options such as U-turn, Earthquake, and Iron Head given at the forefront of the generation, Roaring Moon had great potential, but it was initially held back by its Dark-type STAB move in Crunch just missing out on the OHKO on targets like Flutter Mane. However, come the Teal Mask DLC, and Roaring Moon cemented itself as Dragon teams' premier Choice Scarf threat, with the addition of Knock Off allowing it to check Flutter Mane and offensive Gholdengo with no worries at all, along with blitzing past the base 110 Speed tier and enabling it to check Dragon teams' former most popular Choice Scarf users such as the Lati twins.
Walking Wake after a while would walk into the tier as Dragon teams' first of many newcomers that would eventually arrive over the many updates to Scarlet and Violet. While Walking Wake has fallen off a bit thanks to increased competition with the rise of Choice Specs Dragapult and the return of Latios, its presence on Dragon teams is a notable one, with its Water typing helping Dragon teams blast through Ground-types like Great Tusk and Iron Treads with ease, along with making it neutral to Ice, making it a reasonable option for a Choice Scarf user back when Chien-Pao roamed the tier. Walking Wake is also just miserable for Fire teams packing Drought users to deal with, as Hydro Steam would effectively wash them away on Team Preview if they lacked a Volcanion, while Flamethrower dealt with Grass-types like Amoonguss that thought they could take it on. With Flip Turn to keep up momentum, it's found a place on Dragon teams as a capable Choice Specs user.
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Hisuian Goodra would arrive with Pokémon HOME, granting something Dragon teams desperately needed: a big special wall capable of taking on the dreaded Flutter Mane. Of course, Hisuian Goodra isn't just limited to just combating Flutter Mane, as it's able to take on a multitude of special threats ranging from Greninja to Gholdengo. Hisuian Goodra also used to run an IronPress set and a few Defense EVs to handle physical behemoths like Chien-Pao and Dragon-types such as Roaring Moon. However, its Special Defense is the main draw and continues to be the reason Hisuian Goodra is ran today, especially now that its need to even care about physical bulk is gone with the introduction of a fellow Steel / Dragon type capable of fulfilling that role.
Archaludon was a surprise when it rolled up with a base stat total of 600. It was even more of a surprise to see just how quickly this thing became Dragon teams' premier entry hazard setter and physical wall. With Stamina allowing it to absorb Triple Axel from the likes of Weavile and Meowscarada and then strike back with Body Press, along with being bulky enough to survive Close Combat from tier staples like non-Choice Band Sneasler and the once-terrifying offensive threats' attacks in Icicle Chien-Pao's Icicle Crash and Kingambit's Sucker Punch, Archaludon can go the distance and be a surprisingly dangerous threat while doing so. Its access to Stealth Rock and Thunder Wave provides the main support for Dragon teams, effectively removing the need for hazard setter Garchomp. It is also surprisingly flexible, with a lot of solid moves such as Protect to provide scouting against foes like Choice Scarf Enamorus and heal chip damage with Leftovers; Thunderbolt to take on Water- and Flying-types like Corviknight, Skarmory, and Pelipper; Draco Meteor for a major burst of damage and to break Dragon-types like Gouging Fire and Dragapult; and Thunder Wave to provide speed control.
Raging Bolt's great neck may be a joke, but its power is no laughing matter. Despite having competition from other special attacking superstars like Latios and Kyurem, Raging Bolt has carved out a solid niche, being a great way for Dragon teams to dismantle Flying and Water teams that may attempt to pose an issue, along with providing Dragon teams' main priority in Thunderclap, notably taking out Enamorus and Greninja. Raging Bolt also becomes a surprisingly dangerous threat in the Fairy matchup, being one of the few Dragon-types capable of beating Primarina safely with its own Calm Mind set and then being able to use Thunderclap to smack Iron Valiant with its boosted power. The EV spread it runs has been specially crafted to let it outspeed and remove Gliscor with a +1 Draco Meteor, beat Adamant Bisharp, and survive Flutter Mane's Moonblast after a Calm Mind boost.
Finally ending off the new threats, Gouging Fire. A controversial threat within the Monotype metagame, gaining the first suspect test within the Indigo Disk metagame that ended with it just barely remaining legal within the tier. Gouging Fire still stands hotly debated to this day, as it remains Dragon teams' most dominant threat, and it isn't hard to see why. Gouging Fire has a solid defensive profile with its Ice and Fairy neutrality along with reliable recovery in Morning Sun, allowing it to stay healthy throughout a match, which often allows it to find entry points on more passive targets such as Rotom-W and Articuno, which can't threaten it out. Once it's in, Gouging Fire can generally find a safe opportunity to click Dragon Dance, as powerful Fairy-types like Enamorus and Iron Valiant can't immediately force it back out. Its special bulk investment is crucial in this, with its standard EV spread with a Jolly nature letting it survive Choice Specs Flutter Mane's Moonblast, set up in front of it with Dragon Dance, and then outspeed and OHKO it with Flare Blitz. Alternatively, a bulkier spread with a Careful nature can be run, which lets Gouging Fire survive two Earth Powers from Enamorus while still outspeeding Iron Valiant after a Dragon Dance. Gouging Fire also can run alternative options such as Breaking Swipe, which can turn threats such as defensive Great Tusk from Pokémon it has to run away from into setup fodder.
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Cyclizar, or more aptly named Shed Tail support, provided some strong utility options like Knock Off and Rapid Spin and had Regenerator to keep it healthy. It was primarly useful on Dragon teams for its access to Shed Tail and its ability to enable its teammates to an unhealthy degree. Shed Tail would be one of Dragon teams' defining traits throughout the first three Monotype metagames of Scarlet and Violet, having Cyclizar pivot out to powerful setup sweepers such as Dragonite and Baxcalibur with Shed Tail to allow them to safely set up before they crush their foes. But come the first ban wave of the Indigo Disk metagame and the powerful new threats it brought, enough was enough, and Shed Tail was cut off from the tier. While Cyclizar remains legal, its role on Dragon has long since withered away, now being a rarely seen entry hazard remover that struggles to fit onto the modern structures, as Dragon prefers to deal with hazards by overwhelming the setters before they can place too many.
Baxcalibur, on the other hand, stood as the new pseudo-legendary of Generation 9, with a cool Ice typing and signature ability to deny burns coupled with powerful options such as Icicle Crash, Ice Shard, Earthquake, and its signature move in Glaive Rush. It would serve as an amazing setup sweeper for Dragon teams and would be a controversial figure throughout much of the generation, garnering a suspect test during the Teal Mask metagame that would result in minimal turnout for a ban vote. However, with the community's issues with Dragon teams' overwhelming power during the Indigo Disk metagame, Baxcalibur would once again be put up for a suspect test shortly after Gouging Fire, where the community would come together to remove it from the tier once and for all.
Of course, some old favorites from prior gens still stand strong for Dragon teams. While the new additions may make some of them a bit harder to slot into many builds, there are many players that have stuck to what works and reaped the rewards.
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Dragapult stands strong as the best of the old threats, with its Ghost typing providing a unique tool to Dragon teams that is surprisingly necessary: a Fighting immunity. With most Dragon teams opting to run two Steel-types and plenty more Fighting-weak threats such as Kyurem and Roaring Moon, Dragapult's Ghost typing provides a strong way to handle Fighting types, outspeeding everything lacking a Choice Scarf and being able to cause major disruption with Will-O-Wisp to mess up physical attackers like Sneasler and Zamazenta or Thunder Wave to slow down foes like Iron Valiant. The primary EV spread for the first set is designed to make it a terrifying mixed attacker, making sure nothing can truly switch into it. Of course, Dragapult isn't just a supportive Pokémon; thanks to its diverse movepool, it can be an unpredictable menace, being able to use items like Choice Scarf to have near uncontested Speed and Choice Specs to become a terrifying special attacker that is rough to contest for everything lacking a Choice Scarf and even being able to outpace and remove Choice Specs Flutter Mane from play.
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Latios and Latias, while disappointed at the loss of Defog, still find a solid place on Dragon teams as apt Choice users, with both providing incredible firepower combined with their solid Ground immunity to fill essential roles in the standard Ground-weak compositions. Latios stands as the more popular of the two, with its Choice Specs set with BoltBeam coverage providing an incredible wallbreaker for Dragon teams by being able to blast through otherwise problematic physical walls such as Galarian Weezing, Gliscor, and Dondozo with ease, while its still respectable Speed tier makes it tough to pin down and remove. Latias, on the other hand, runs a Choice Scarf, with the goal of aiding its weakened wallbreakers such as Gouging Fire and Raging Bolt with Healing Wish and getting them back in the fight for a second round to overwhelm an opposing team's defensive core. Latias also comes with the utility of outspeeding and removing opposing Fighting- and Dragon-types like Choice Scarf Great Tusk and Choice Specs Latios while providing disruption by using Trick to force a Choice Scarf onto walls like Alolan Muk and Blissey. However, Healing Wish is Latias's sole selling point over Dragon teams' other popular Choice Scarf threats such as Roaring Moon and Dragapult, and it can struggle to fit on a Dragon team otherwise, as its lower Speed compared to those two makes it struggle in one of Dragon teams' hardest matchups: the mirror matchup.
Kyurem brings a chill and generally acts as Dragon teams' preferred wallbreaker over Raging Bolt against Flying teams, with its Ice Beam being nearly impossible for them to switch into outside of Articuno, and even then, it can struggle to reliably take it on with the pressure Dragon teams can exert. It doesn't end there, as Freeze-Dry can break apart slower Water teams lacking Empoleon and can remove Azumarill and Primarina from Fairy teams, which can pose major issues otherwise, while Focus Blast and Earth Power can majorly chunk Steel-types such as Hisuian Goodra, Empoleon, and Heatran that may attempt to take it on. Flash Cannon has also been spotted on Kyurem as a niche option that can reliably scare Articuno along with Fairy-types like Alolan Ninetales. Some brave souls have also tried to experiment with Loaded Dice sets to try and restart the Baxcalibur train, but these prove to be unreliable as well as unnecessary due to Dragon teams' glut of better physical attackers.
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Dragonite started out in the Scarlet and Violet metagame overjoyed. Cyclizar's Shed Tail combined with Multiscale made Dragonite a pain to take on for a majority of types, as it could generally safely get a few Dragon Dances off once it's positioned well, and it was off to the races from then on. Combined with many physical walls being majorly hampered or removed outright, Dragonite enjoyed the havoc it could unleash upon Monotype. Then Shed Tail got banned, and Dragonite had to fight an honest fight. A Flying typing along with Extreme Speed to outpace faster foes like Iron Valiant or Encore to lock Primarina into Calm Mind keeps Dragonite in the teambuilder as a late-game cleaner that can fly through teams after a singular Dragon Dance or just straight away with a Choice Band, but its best days on Dragon teams are behind it in Scarlet and Violet.
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Garchomp is a sad case. Originally, it would stand strong as Dragon teams' premier entry hazard setter thanks to gaining access to Spikes, and with its solid physical bulk and Rocky Helmet, it could threaten the spinners of the tier hard, making them think twice about removing hazards, along with making use of its solid bulk to continually use Dragon Tail to phaze setup sweepers and rack up hazard damage. Garchomp's sole access to Spikes on Dragon teams still gives it a role to play despite how hard it is to find a team that needs it, as most Dragon teams don't need Spikes most the time to break down its foes thanks to all the powerful options they have. All they need is Stealth Rock Archaludon, which offers a far better defensive profile for most Dragon teams overall now. In response, Garchomp opts to run a now more offensive set with Swords Dance and Scale Shot to keep up in the Monotype metagame, with Fire Fang to break past Skarmory and Corviknight, which otherwise stonewall it.
Hydreigon was one of Dragon teams' best offensive threats back before the glut of Dragon-types in the Indigo Disk DLC forced it out of most structures. Hydreigon was defined by its nearly unresisted coverage, granting it ways to break nearly any defensive threat such as Flamethrower melting down Corviknight and Scizor, Earth Power blasting past Toxapex and Alolan Muk, and Flash Cannon striking through Enamorus and Flutter Mane if it could safely get a Substitute up. Dark Pulse was also incredible in allowing Hydreigon to fight off the popular Ghost- and Psychic-types of early Monotype such as Gholdengo, Skeledirge, and Indeedee-M. With Taunt sitting in its back pocket, it could also take on and beat Unaware Clodsire and specially defensive Ting-Lu, as both would normally attempt to deal with Hydreigon. However, the Indigo Disk DLC majorly hurt Hydreigon, as the return of far more dangerous special attacking Dragon-type wallbreakers in Latios and Kyurem along with the introduction of Raging Bolt hits Hydreigon hard, and with Gouging Fire being solid into most of the same types Hydreigon was and the ever-increasing rise of popularity in Fighting- and Fairy-types, Hydreigon has been forced into a more niche pick.
With Dragon's jump in power within the Indigo Disk metagame, it's no surprise that it's been an incredible tournament threat, immediately making its presence known within Monotype Winter Premier V by being brought 21 times in only 59 games, making it the most used type not only out of just the Indigo Disk usage but the entire tournament, and it wasn't just all for show either, as Dragon teams packed a solid 57.14% win rate. Dragon teams would then continue this momentum into this year's Monotype Premier League, being brought 26 times out of the total 120 games, making Dragon the third most used type and only outclassed in usage by Steel and Flying, which both cracked 30, along with packing a win rate of 57.69%, which is quite nice. In both tours, Gouging Fire and Dragapult would stand as easily two of Dragon teams' must-runs, with Winter Premier packing a perfect attendance for Baxcalibur, while Premier League would see Archaludon rise to be one of Dragon teams' must-runs, with Dragapult standing with its own perfect attendance.
With that, everything related to Scarlet and Violet Monotype's Dragon teams has been covered. So go out there and load six Dragon-types on the same team on the Monotype ladder, whether through the provided sample team above or by making your own concoction, because who needs type diversity when you've got the best type in the tier?
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