Ride the Lightning!

[Reaver12]

First off thanks for taking a look at my first, best, and favorite Monotype team I ever created. I've noticed increased interest in this type of competetive battling and couldn't be happier about it. I made this team two months ago and am getting ready to retire it so I'd thought I'd go ahead and post it. In case you have not guessed it is an Electric themed team with one Wildcard (a non-electric Pokemon). Some people won't like this, but honestly apart from Steel every Monotype team needs one to be truly viable. And Steel doesn't just because of the huge amount of dual types to cover it's weaknesses. Anyway, every member of my team is named after former and current Metallica members, hence the name....

Team Ride the Lightning!!

The Wildcard: Mustaine
Dave Mustaine was the original lead guitarist of Metallica, but left that band after conflict with lead singer James Hetfield. He then started his own Thrash Metal band, known as Megadeth.


Gyarados @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 156 HP, 108 Att, 100 Def, 144 Spe
-Dragon Dance
-Taunt
-Waterfall
-Earthquake

This is standard Tauntridos, and it is so fun to use. In the begining of a match I generally Taunt to keep a slow lead form setting up a hazard, or I Dragon Dance to bait my opponent to switch to a pokemon with Thunderbolt. At which time I usually switch to Lanturn. Why not Electivire? Well, I generally use this in Mono tourneys and I love to keep my opponent guessing as to what my type is. So a switch to Lanturn makes them think I'm using a water team, and Zapdos makes them think it might be flying... you see how it can be fun. He also helps complete my trio of 3 pokes weak to ground and 3 of them immune to it.

Moveset: Taunt + Dragon Dance means that stall can't do a damn thing to me. Waterfall is obviously there for a good STAB move and just great neutral coverage, and Earthquake is on over Stone Edge because this team really doesn't fear anything that Stone Edge hits SE, and I hate the accuracy issues.


The Annoyer/ Special Wall: Trujillo
Robert Trujillo is the newest member of Metallica, and is actually a kick ass basist. However he doesn't really seem to fit into the band very well, despite having a long list of accomplishments and having been in some other great bands.


Lanturn @ Leftovers
Abilit: Volt Absorb
Nature: Calm
EVs: 40 HP, 80 Spe, 136 SpA, 252 SpD
-Thunder Wave
-Confuse Ray
-Thunderbolt
-Surf

Lanturn is fun as hell to use. He absorbs special attacks with ease and cripples the physical switch in with Thunder Wave. He gets some free healing from Electric attacks directed at either Zapdos or Gyarados and generally lasts an entire match. Parafusion is one of the most annoying things that can happen in a Pokemon battle. The chances of actually getting a chance to hit Lanturn are slim, and even then not many attacks are gonna do alot to him.

Moveset: Thunder Wave and Confuse Ray make the infamous Parafusion combo, with Surf and Thunderbolt as two awesome STABs. The lack of recovery is a bit of a pain, but with the amount of turns you spend not attacking from Parafusion and switches I get plenty of Lefties recovery.

The Physical Wall: Hetfield
James Hetfield is the lead singer of Metallica. He almost died during one concert when a jet of fire came out of the stage at the wrong moment and severely burned him. One might call it a small Heat Wave... ;-)


Zapdos @ Lum Berry
Ability: Pressure
Nature: Bold
EVs: 248 HP, 228 Def, 32 Spe
-Thunderbolt
-Heat Wave
-Roost
-Toxic

Zapdos is a great asset to the team, adding some much needed physical bulk and another Earthquake immunity. He also is the only member of my team with a fire move, but really he is enough. He's strong enough to take quite a beating on the physical side, and although there are no EVs invested in Sp. Attack he still hits pretty hard (he is a legendary after all).

Moveset: Thunderbolt is the obligatory STAB, with Heat Wave adding some great coverage to the team. Zapdos has single handedly taken out Mono Bug and Grass teams before ;-). Toxic and Roost go together well to stall out almost anything, and with Pressure they won't be able to keep doing alot of damage for long.

The Heavy Hitter: Ulrich
Lars Ulrich is the founder and the drummer of Metallica. As everyone knows, being a drummer takes alot of physical power and endurance (especially in a Metal band). He is one of the best drummers in all of Metal and will continue to be a very physical performer for years to come.


Electivire @ Expert Belt
Ability: Motor Drive
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 Att, 252 Spe, 4 HP
-Thunder Punch
-Ice Punch
-Earthquake
-Cross Chop

Electivire is my main physical attacker, and aside from Gyarados this teams only shot at taking out Blissey. I opted to use the purely physical set over the generally prefered Mixed set because I wanted to get as much speed and power out of him as possible, and almost my entire team carries special moves anyway. He can grab a speed boost thanks to Gyarados or Zapdos and can take down unprepared teams with ease.

Moveset: Thunder and Ice Punch give a slightly less powerful BoltBeam combo that takes down a ton of Pokemon. Cross Chop is for the two fat blobs named Snorlax and Blissey, while Earthquake is there because it hits other Electivire that might try to get their own speed boost.

The Ghost: Burton
Cliff Burton was the basist for Metallica when it was one "in it's prime" and was tragically killed in a bus accident while touring Europe. It was a mere twist of fate that Burton was killed that night, as he won a bet and chose to sleep in James Hetfields bunk. When the bus flipped he was asleep and was crushed beneath it.... R.I.P. Cliff


Rotom-C @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 SpA, 252 Spe, 4 HP
-Trick
-Thunderbolt
-Shadow Ball
-Leaf Storm

Rotom is a great member of the team. He is my third and final member immune to gound attacks (something that is quite cool for a mono electric team). He is also great for taking out any ground types that escaped Gyarados and is great at crippling walls and killing Ghosts.

Moveset: Trick is an amazing way to keep Blissey from walling my entire team, and can be fun to use against someone trying to set up for a sweep. Leaf Storm is great for taking out Swampert, who can be a real problem for the team otherwise. Shadow Ball and Thunderbolt are great STABs that provide good coverage and allow Rotom to do a little sweeping before/after he drops the Scarf

The Star of the Show: Hammett
Kirk Hammett is the lead Guitarist of Metallica, and though some people may say he isn't the star of the show when I saw the band I couldn't take my eys off him. He was just so fast and powerful he swept the show...


Raikou @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 Spe, 252 SpA, 4 HP
IVs: 29 HP
-Substitute
-Calm Mind
-Thunderbolt
-Hidden Power Ice (69)

Sub CM Raikou is my favorite sweeper in the game. He is so deadly against todays bulky offense, as not many of those Pokemon can outspeed Raikou, who sits at a base 115 speed. After a few Calm Minds he can OHKO a ton of Pokemon (after 6 Blissey is 2HKO'd lol). People often don't take him as a serious threat, and exploiting that is amazingly fun to do.

Moveset: Pretty basic really. I Substitute right away usually, and start spamming Calm Mind until my Subs live through whatever attack is getting thrown at them (Mono teams are often very special or very physical so it's not hard to accomplish). After my Sub is up and established I OHKO my opponent and continue to bring destruction down on the other team with boosted BoltBeam that provides almost unresisted coverage.


Well that's Team Ride the Lightning, rate as you will. I'm willing to change some pokes/ move them around as long as I keep 3 immunitites to ground.

 

[M BLADE]

I don't like when someone calls a team of "mono team" when he get some poke just to cover a mono team weakness . A mono should be mono, with all 6 pokes with the same type.

But since you will keep your three immunities to EQ, i can't do anything...

I have a mono electric team. Raichu and Jolteon goes over Gyarados and Lanturn, the rest is the same with some different sets here and there.

If you think Blissey is a problem to your team, you could add a Fake Tears Jolteon (if you think that Thunder Wave is more used than Toxic) or Luxray(Superpower certainly OHKO Blissey), though i don't know which one you replace with them.

If you don't want a "real monoteam" i think Gliscor would fare well with the team. It can pass Swords Dances(for Electivire) or Rock Polishes to help your pokes(and has Taunt just like Gyarados) and it has the ground immunity too. And Roost to give it more survivability.

 

[Tarquin]

M BLADE, a 'real monoteam' as you put it, has ALWAYS been allowed a wildcard in competitive play, to make them at least semi-viable. Not everybody does use one, but they are allowed and I think you'd to better to do more research then just make out that this guy is taking a cheap option.

Back to the team, my main advice is to move Gyarados further down your team. It strikes me that, with the BulkyDos set, it really fills in some of the offensive holes that your team has. For example, you could challenge your team to kill off the Celebi and Gyarados of a stall team, then bring out Gyarados to finish. Alternatively, you could switch him in the mid-game, to try and score an Electivire sweep, to clear the way for a later Gyarados sweep.

I really feel your team relies alot on Gyarados and as such, I would move him down to a mid / late game sweeper, and give him more bulky EVs, so he can switch in more often.

As for the lead, as all Gyarados did was stop some set-up leads, I have a lead that will fit right in. Move Rotom to the top lead position, give it Choice Specs and it becomes a deadly anti-lead, capable of OHKOing many set-up leads, without really being it much danger from any of them.

The leads that it can't handle brilliantly are mainly Infernape (as it outspeeds and can do medium damage with Fire Blast and survives tblot with focus sash, although you do have immunities to both Fake Out and Close Combat) and Azelf, as it can also do medium damage, outspeed you and has sash. Tyranitar leads are very rare, but also an issue. However, you can either do 70% to them before you go down or trick them with specs, crippling them for the match to come. If you do have trouble with a lead, Lanturn is a good switch in to most attacks aimed at Rotom.

Please try not to worry too much about losing a scarfer, see if you can work around it, as scarfers do give ALOT of set-up opportunities. However, if you are craving a scarfer after this, Zapdos would be a fine decision.

Rotom handles the rest of the enemy leads pretty much fine :)

Here is the set Specifically.

Rotom - x
252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid / Modest
Levitate
-Thunderbolt
-Shadow Ball
-Hydro Pump (hits heatran better) / Grass Knot (hits Tyranitar and Swampert better)
-Trick

 

[Reaver12]

I first started making monotype teams when little makeshift tournaments would start up randomly during the day, and in every single one a wildcard has been allowed. Sure it eases the team building a little bit, but without it the majority of your team can be swept. Take monofire as an example, a Gliscor with Rock Polish, Earthquake, Stone Edge, and a random filler can sweep your entire team with one turn of set up. Now if you have a good wildcard, which for Fire would be something like Vaporeon, that sweeper that would 6-0 you gets stopped in it's tracks right away. Unless you sacrifice your item slots for damage reducing berries there is really no way around it. Moving on...

I might try that Rotom set. On another team I used a Specs Heatran anti-lead and loved it so I can certainly see that set working. I just enjoy leading Gyarados for the mind game factor, but it's not an essential part of my battles. Just a little bit of extra fun.

I've used Gliscor as both a lead and a Yache Baton Passer, and it does seem pretty vialbe to help out on my weak physical side. I might think about putting in Luxray over Evire, because if Gyarados isn't leading they know I'm using Electric and won't throw a Thunderbolt at him to set up.

 

[M BLADE]

M BLADE, a 'real monoteam' as you put it, has ALWAYS been allowed a wildcard in competitive play, to make them at least semi-viable. Not everybody does use one, but they are allowed and I think you'd to better to do more research then just make out that this guy is taking a cheap option.

I know it's allowed, i'm not stupid. It's not a matter of allowed or not, it's just that a mono team that isn't 100% mono feels wrong for me. TO ME.
I have mono teams of every type out there, and i seem to get around the weaks just fine( and my mono steel, which everyone says it's the only one that can be competitive, sucks hard lol)

Back to the team...
You could put Rain Dance on someone (perhaps Lanturn and Rotom, and switch for Rotom-W) and put Thunder on every poke ( Thunderbolt on Raikou since the rain isn't gonna last forever, and he can't afford to miss when sweeping). Plus it gives Gyarados a good boost on his Waterfall(and Lanturn Surf too). It's more powerful and can really help you paralizing things.

 

[Reaver12]

I've thought about it, but was actually worried I'd accidentally give someone's swift swimmer a free set up and get swept lol.

So yea, I think I'll give Rain Dance a test.

I just noticed your sig M BLADE, I take it you're more of a Megadeth fan?

 

[M BLADE]

I've thought about it, but was actually worried I'd accidentally give someone's swift swimmer a free set up and get swept lol.

So yea, I think I'll give Rain Dance a test.

I just noticed your sig M BLADE, I take it you're more of a Megadeth fan?

I prefer Metallica lol
I'm just a person with no creativity whatsoever

About Swift Swimmers: the only one largely used in OU is Kingdra.
Yeah, Kabutops pretty much sweeps your team(can't switch in though), but no one uses Kabutops without rain support, which the enemy will hold Rain Dance too, so it doesn't really matter since the enemy will likely get his Rain Dance off.
Make a test and see if Rain Dance fits the team.