Monotype Viability Rankings

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Ok, some good points from Dirpz/Inscribe, I'll edit it to B-Rank now, as it does take a little bit of experience to use the crit set to its full potential and the swift swim set isn't too good (although I need to edit in a couple other options I forgot). As well, my write-up was for water, not dragon. Please don't use Kingdra on dragon. Like has been stated, too much other stuff outclasses everything it does. It's only niche on Dragon mono is the guaranteed crit, but most other stuff hits harder anyway (which is why it is D rank on dragon I think).

Also, only brought up the ranbat thing to show that Articuno can beat stuff with type advantage on it. ArVaDa- beat me using Articuno really well earlier today, but I don't think its A rank. I would think B, but there are so many other more viable walls on flying that can wall stuff and support better (aforementioned Toge and Zapdos especially). Togekiss is a better Heal Bell user imo, and the bulky T-Wave/Air Slash/Heal Bell/Roost set is very good, but is sort of walled by ground/rock (which is why it's A). Zapdos is a pretty much mandatory defogger on flying as it only takes 25% from SR and is neutral to electric (always amazing on fly mono) and it can toxic stall gastro/quag/swamp. Also, it deserves its S Rank and defog is amazing support on a flying mono (even better than heal bell imo). Overall, I think the rock weakness kills Articuno's ability to wall stuff (you don't want your wall losing 50% health every time it switches in, which should be often), and Skarm/Mega Char X are neutral to ice as well.

Also, why DM sniping post #1000 <.<

I don't really think articuno really warrants a B rank, it should stay right where it is. a massive weakness to sr cripples its ability to freely switch in and do what its intended to do; wall. however, im not doubting articuno's ability as a wall either. articuno can switch into keldeo (non specs) and greninja, two big threats to flying monotypes, assuming rocks aren't up. see, articuno is a spectacular wall, but sr just fucks with its playing ability too much to deserve anything above c, i could ramble on and on about this but i think enough has been said
 
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Uh, ignore the Attached File thing, it's like 1/5 of my write-up. I dunno why it's there...
Figured it out, I copy/pasted from a word document since I worked on this at different times over the past two days and that's why it has the "Attachment" things
 
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Erm... You pointed out the electric neutrality early in he post, but ended up saying that it is immune later on in the post? Assuming just a typo ^^;

IMO, Rotom-W would fit more on B Rank for water. It has lots of competition as a special/choiced sweeper from Greninja and Keldeo, as well as competition with defensive sets from Slowbro, Quagsire, Tentacruel, and especially Lanturn. Both Greninja and Keldeo have more power and speed, but Rotom does have the small advantage of nabbing momentum with volt switch or crippling switch-ins with trick. As for bulkier sets, Rotom's access to WoW is definitely handy, but most water types can just fish for a burn themselves with scald. Main niche that Rotom has over other waters is Levitate, meaning it can switch in easier on things like Excadrill, Pinsir-Mega, or SubDD Gyarados (although eq < crunch nowadays). Lastly, Lanturn would largely outclasses it as an answer to electric Pokemon. Immunity > neutrality, and, frankly, Rotom is just not as bulky. Zapdos on Electric can easily take advantage of Rotom and start the toxic stall, while Lanturn has access to heal bell. Don't get me wrong, Rotom is definitely a useful Pokemon, but it has lots of competition for both main sets.
 
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Erm... You pointed out the electric neutrality early in he post, but ended up saying that it is immune later on in the post? Assuming just a typo ^^;

IMO, Rotom-W would fit more on B Rank for water. It has lots of competition as a special/choiced sweeper from Greninja and Keldeo, as well as competition with defensive sets from Slowbro, Quagsire, Tentacruel, and especially Lanturn. Both Greninja and Keldeo have more power and speed, but Rotom does have the small advantage of nabbing momentum with volt switch or crippling switch-ins with trick. As for bulkier sets, Rotom's access to WoW is definitely handy, but most water types can just fish for a burn themselves with scald. Main niche that Rotom has over other waters is Levitate, meaning it can switch in easier on things like Excadrill, Pinsir-Mega, or SubDD Gyarados (although eq < crunch nowadays). Lastly, Lanturn would largely outclasses it as an answer to electric Pokemon. Immunity > neutrality, and, frankly, Rotom is just not as bulky. Zapdos on Electric can easily take advantage of Rotom and start the toxic stall, while Lanturn has access to heal bell. Don't get me wrong, Rotom is definitely a useful Pokemon, but it has lots of competition for both main sets.
Ya the immunity thing is a typo :P
Also, I thought I mentioned the scald thing, but I guess I forgot to put it in there XD. I was thinking A Rank, because it has many viable sets and is also the best screen setter on water mono, which can be really helpful to setup pokemon such as Slowbro. I did mention that it is outclassed somewhat as a wall/specs attacker, but it does have the Trick WoW hax and can be an excellent physical wall after the burn (and 85%>30% for burn chance), while hitting decently hard and being able to either volt switch to a teammate, or use Hex lolz. Lanturn IS usually better on water mono (with Heal Bell/electric immunity) but Rotom does have niches that it can fill better than Lanturn/other Pokemon (secondary wall/backup specs sweeper to Keldeo if you use physical ninja/best water screen setter). I think Rotom-W is kinda stuck, as I think it is better than B Rank Pokemon, but maybe not as good as some A Rank Pokemon. Shame we don't do +/- >.<
 
I nominate Ludicolo for C Rank (Water)


Pros:
  • Electric neutrality
  • Grass neutrality
  • Good staller
  • Ludiyolo!
Cons:
  • Most sets need rain to function
  • Weak to bug/poison/flying--all common teams in mono
  • Taunt walls defensive set, walls wall offensive sets XD
Ludicolo can serve a few roles on a water team, but defensive staller is the main one:

Ludicolo @ Leftovers
Ability: Rain Dish
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Rain Dance
- Giga Drain
- Leech Seed
- Scald/Toxic/Protect/Substitute

Rain Dance is the key to the set. This allows it to regain the same amount of health as lefties every turn, so it is basically like holding 2 leftovers. Giga Drain is mandatory STAB and more recovery. Leech Seed is mandatory for annoying and for even MORE recovery. Scald is secondary STAB to hit fire types and fish for burns, Toxic can be used for more residual damage with Leech Seed, and Protect can be used for Leech Seed damage and Leech Seed/Rain Dish/Lefties recovery.
For best usage, switch in on a physical attacker and seed it (or whatever switches in). Then use Rain Dance. Then, after you have a guaranteed 25%ish health regained every turn (unless they spin/rain runs out/they use knock off/taunt) spam Giga Drain/Scald. Or, if you run toxic, use that for more annoyance/residual damage. If using Protect, be sure to use that every other turn so you can wall more stuff (unless they predict the Protect and use that turn to set up). EVs maximize bulk with a little investment in SpA. Substitute is also an option to avoid status and stop Pokemon without attacks or Pokemon that rely on coverage that hits for less than 25% damage.
Taunt Will-O-Mew beats this set as it can taunt (its faster), burn, then roost off any damage you try to do to it. Also, Gunk Shot Greninja, and pretty much every flying/bug/poison move that is special (and some more powerful ones that are physical) will 1-2HKO Ludicolo.

Ludicolo @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature/Modest Nature
- Rain Dance
- Scald
- Giga Drain
- Ice Beam

Standard special attacking Ludicolo set. Life Orb boosts power, Rain Dance activates Swift Swim so you out-speed lots of stuff. Scald is STAB and works well in rain, Giga Drain is STAB and recovery (helpful when using Life Orb, especially if you can hit something for SE damage). Ice Beam is coverage. Decent enough, especially with Swift Swim, but water has better special attackers that hit harder immediately or have better set up moves than rain dance (Specs Keldeo/CM Slowbro for example).

Physical Ludicolo: (Thanks to Dancer Miror B for this set)

Ludicolo @ Leftovers/Life Orb
Ability: Rain Dish/Swift Swim
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Rain Dance
- Fake Out
- Drain Punch/Brick Break/Power-Up Punch
- Bullet Seed

This set is pretty self-explanatory, and also pretty bad :I. Base 70 attack is not very good, but you can use this if you run special ninja and don't use any other physcial attackers, or just for the surprise factor as no one expects this (probably for good reason). Rain Dance is mandatory. Rain Dish/Lefties is for healing, Swift Swim/Life Orb is for sweeping (lol). Fake Out does damage without you taking damage (first turn only) and Ludicolo can switch in and out and spam it (also handy because if you switch out to Politoed, rain gets set up without Ludicolo having to do it by itself, but). Drain Punch is recovery and hits Steels/Normals/Darks (obviously). Brick Break is an alternative to break screens (and if you hate recovery). Power-Up Punch is useful to raise your mediocre attack. Bullet Seed is STAB, and can have 125 BP if you get lucky. Not recommended to use this set, but it IS an option.

Alternate Moves:
  • Waterfall: usable STAB on physcial set
  • Return: has decent power, could be used on physical set
  • Dive: could be used as a STAB on physical set to stall for more Rain Dish/Lefties recovery
  • Surf/Hydro Pump: usable over Scald for more power/even more power (and less accuracy) respectively, but generally Ludicolo is a staller that prefers the burn chance
  • Teeter Dance: usable for kicks and giggles I guess
  • Elemental Punches: coverage on physical set, usually not worth it

Why C Rank? Basically, Ludicolo isn't that good. It has got electric/grass neutrality, but in exchange for weaknesses to 3 common types in the monotype metagame. Its main claim to fame is Leech Seed, which does nothing to grass types/Sap Sipper Pokemon. It has potential to be a wall, but its attacking sets are barely usable. I have seen it used extremely well, but for a beginning player, it is easier to use a wall such as Lanturn instead (who also can support with Heal Bell). It does have grass STAB for killing Gastrodon (which can be troubling to water sometimes)/Swampert/Quagsire, but is walled by just about every taunter/wall respectively for its different sets. It has usage as a rain setter however. Also, it needs help to function at its best. It can set rain itself (and is its main support move for teammates), but prefers it if Politoed does that, and needs Heal Bell Lanturn/Alomomola as status hurts it. Therefore I think Ludiyolo should be C Rank on water as it does have a niche (Leech Seed/Gastro killer) but doesn't greatly help mono water. I could even see D Rank, but I think Ludicolo is better than that.
 
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CHOMP CHOMP
MEGA SHARPEDO FOR B RANK (DARK AND WATER)



Sharpedo is one of the lucky Pokemon to receive a Mega-forme in OR/AS, thankfully it's not that bad. Strong Jaw provides a nice boost to Sharpedo's already large Attack stat, it also can utilize Strong Jaw very well. Sharpedo has access to Crunch and Ice Fang, and even Poison Fang if you want a way to hit Azumarill, though it only 3HKOes most bulky Azumarill. Crunch Mega Sharpedo can pretty much OHKO/2HKO an entire Psychic team on its own. The only way to kill it is to hope the opponent stays in on Mega Gallade, but even Gallade can't take two hits, while Gallade only has access to Shadow Sneak as a viable option of priority, which Sharpedo just happens to resist. It doesn't only do work on Psychic, either. Crunch can 2HKO a lot of things that don't resist it. Politoed, Swampert, and other Bulky Water Types can't afford to switch into Crunch unless they want to get completely wrecked by Crunch. Also, Waterfall provides some good coverage to do some damage to Landorus-Therian (Lando-I is OHKOed) if you run Poison Fang over Ice Fang. You can also run Hidden Power [Fire] to force out physical walls like Scizor and Skarmory. The first slot is really up for grabs. Don't really see a reason to run Hydro Pump>HP Fire, since Hydro Pump just acts as another Water stab, while HP Fire actually hits physical walls that threaten Sharpedo for a lot of damage. Ice Fang, Poison Fang and Earthquake are all options in the first slot as well, I recommend Ice Fang or Poison Fang for Dark, and Earthquake if you're running water, because it hits grounded Electric types for hard damage. And last but not least, you can actually choose to run Substitute over Protect (not recommended), to catch things on the switch, while getting a speed boost too. However, it is very risky, so only use it it you really need it.

319.gif
jaja gillz
Sharpedo @ Sharpedonite
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature/ Naughty Nature
- Poison Fang/Hidden Power [Fire]/Ice Fang/Earthquake
- Waterfall
- Crunch
- Protect/Substitute

RESERVIN MEGA GALLADE PSYKEK
 
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I Nominate Articuno for A rank (for flying)

I think that articuno should be moved to A rank (currently C) because it is pretty necessary for most flying teams to function in a stall-ish manor vs being forced into revenge killing certain threats. It is often said that you can't cover everything that is going to fight you, there will always be a team that beats you (namely one that has greninja). However, this doesn't mean you can't give them hell and keep their teams honest. I've run Articuno for a bit now and it gives generic water a TON of trouble, a type that previously was pretty annoying to fight. They hate freeze-dry and run back and forth between tentacruel and lanturn in a rather futile manor. **Hand Raises**, well what about greninja with rock slide or hp rock? All I have to say to that is, that player is missing coverage against another type if rock slide, and if hp rock you are a sniper and should probably stop, it doesnt even OHKO. You keep the opponent honest with their set, this way so they cant mindlessly slap ice beam on their team and say they have flying covered. To add to that, the fear of articuno eating an ice beam plays massive mindgames that, imo, are needed.​

To address stealth rock, at times articuno isnt up to the task to switch in and avoid a 2HKO (has taken too much damage what have you), however if after rocks and you can manage even 25% health you are good sometimes. You can always sac your lest needed poke if absolutely necessary to give cuno a free switch and keep the game rolling. Otherwise there are some plays that can be made where the combination of rocks and ice beam is too crippling for flying to take (ttar rocks plus scarf ninja). To keep in a reality check, I thought I would add gunk shot as a calc to show that it really doesn't do that much, and has a chance to miss otherwise. If you are in the sad state where rocks are up and you are sacrificing something and it uses gunk shot instead, another check will suffice if not at full HP.

252 SpA Protean Greninja Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Articuno: 78-93 (20.3 - 24.2%) -- possible 6HKO after Leftovers recovery

0 Atk Protean Greninja Gunk Shot vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Articuno: 124-147 (32.2 - 38.2%) -- 1.6% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ SpA Choice Specs Turboblaze Kyurem-W Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Articuno: 183-216 (47.6 - 56.2%) -- 25.8% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

252 SpA Turboblaze Kyurem-W Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Articuno: 111-132 (28.9 - 34.3%) -- 99.3% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery

252 SpA Turboblaze Kyurem-W Fusion Flare vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Articuno: 166-196 (43.2 - 51%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ SpA Teravolt Kyurem-B Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Articuno: 94-112 (24.4 - 29.1%) -- possible 5HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ Atk Teravolt Kyurem-B Fusion Bolt vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Articuno: 294-346 (76.5 - 90.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

If the ice beamer in question isn't scarfed, (assumption from experience incoming) that is usually revealed pretty early in the game to cause havok and you can do your darn'dest to play around that, such as bringing in a scarf of your own or threaten it with paralysis or something, otherwise any other poke won't save you either. Articuno makes dragon and ice players think twice about spamming ice beam, if fusion bolt, you can take 1 and either play the mind game and roost or switch to a ground/flying. Articuno doesnt really care about kyurem-W no matter what it does (non specs), which is pretty nifty if you ask me.

The Set
Articuno @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpD / 8 Spe
Calm Nature
- Heal Bell
- Roost
- Freeze-Dry
- Hurricane

If you want to go crazy articuno has some pretty cool moves, but that isn't for this thread. Anyhoo, this thing is a tank that can even prevent 100% counter switches from getting a totally free switch with hurricane + confuse chance. I do not recommend articuno for the average player, as it takes alot of mind play to use, however it is like the hidden best pokemon in a sense (not really but bear with me). There are choices when teambuilding that always do, at worst, decently, but articuno can pull of some pretty ridiculous saves and you can just put your cool guy shades on and say, "yep, articuno." I've peaked at #1 with cuno on the mono ladder and have been consistently pretty high on the ladder if that adds to consideration, and I thank articuno as support of a greater TEAM cause, flying is all support imo. For the record I would've recommened this thing for S rank, some types really hate it, but I figure not many of you will agree with my bias and will complain about rocks.
I personally think that it should stay at C or move up to B at most. You're right, it's a beast at the hands of an experienced player, but it's way too hard to use for beginners. It does a great job walling special Ice types, but it has trouble against Dark + Greninja (which is its main niche). As you go higher up the ladder, Dark's Stealth Rocker is generally a Tyranitar that has Stone Edge + Fire Blast. This prevents you from Defogging until it's off the field / dead. You can Defog, but chances are, your Defogger's dead while T-tar can switch out and come back later. Once you have rocks up on Articuno's side, the Dark user can pressure you w/ a mixture of Greninja, and T-tar. Sure, you can switch in Articuno (and lose 50% of your health) and roost, this leaves you at at 100 while Tyranitar comes right back out to pressure you with Stone Edge. If you try and attack Greninja, then Articuno's dead the next time it switches in once you factor in Sandstorm damage. Basically, you're forced to Roost every time you come in making it extremely hard for Articuno to do its job while the Dark user can whittle away its health (esp if T-tar has Pursuit). It does do a great job against Ice, but so do SpDef Charizard & Rest Talk Mega Dos. Because of that, I feel like it's outclassed in some ways, and it's extremely hard to use in others, making it great where it is.

I feel like Rotom-W should be C rank for Water since it offers nothing special outside of Will-o-Wisp, Trick & a Lando-I check. Earthquake immunity isn't important at all unless if you struggle with Sand Rush Excadrill. (if so, try defensive Swampert :P) Electric neutrality is nice, but it faces competition with Lanturn who is better in almost every single way. As for your sets, I feel like only the first and fourth sets are somewhat viable. The other two are flat out outclassed.

Maybe change the Word Doc into a .txt so you can easily edit?

I'm not targeting you or anything, so don't feel offended, but your sets need some help if they're going to be helpful.

First set:

Rotom-Wash @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Trick
- Will-o-Wisp
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump

Rotom-W makes a pretty good Grass Knot absorber, and Volt Switch pressures fast and frail mons such as Greninja. Trick cripples any wall that might switch in. Will-o-Wisp is great in general, and scarf Willo is pretty good against stuff such as +1 Mega Altaria & Dragonite.

There is absolutely no reason to run Hex on Rotom-W since it gains so STAB from it. (Volt Switch + Hydro Pump are stronger if you factor in STAB. They hit Psychic & Ghost neutrally so no point running that.)

Last set:

Rotom-Wash @ Light Clay
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Will-o-Wisp / Pain Split
- Volt Switch / Pain Split

This is probs my favorite Rotom-W set on Water. Light Clay is obvious, since it makes your screens last longer. Screens are screens. Will-o-Wisp prevents physical sweepers from setting up on you, and Volt Switch lets you keep your momentum up while getting your sweepers in safely. Pain Split is there if you want to last longer, but I personally feel like Will-o + Volt Switch are better.

If you really want, you can keep the third set, but it's meh in Water Monotypes (Outclassed by Lanturn + Swampert)

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Will-o-Wisp
- Pain Split
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch

Standard Rotom-W. There's no need to speed creep Azu since a majority of water types can tank a Aqua Jet and deal with it. Pain Split is great on this set since it can recover some lost HP. I chose 252 Def instead of SpDef is because Lanturn's going to be your SpDef wall anyways. (They make a decent core now that I think of it .3.)

I nominate Ludicolo for C Rank (Water)


Pros:
  • Electric neutrality
  • Grass neutrality
  • Good staller
  • Ludiyolo!
Cons:
  • Most sets need rain to function
  • Weak to bug/poison/flying--all common teams in mono
  • Taunt walls defensive set, walls wall offensive sets XD
Ludicolo can serve a few roles on a water team, but defensive staller is the main one:

Ludicolo @ Leftovers
Ability: Rain Dish
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Rain Dance
- Giga Drain
- Leech Seed
- Scald/Toxic/Protect/Substitute

Rain Dance is the key to the set. This allows it to regain the same amount of health as lefties every turn, so it is basically like holding 2 leftovers. Giga Drain is mandatory STAB and more recovery. Leech Seed is mandatory for annoying and for even MORE recovery. Scald is secondary STAB to hit fire types and fish for burns, Toxic can be used for more residual damage with Leech Seed, and Protect can be used for Leech Seed damage and Leech Seed/Rain Dish/Lefties recovery.
For best usage, switch in on a physical attacker and seed it (or whatever switches in). Then use Rain Dance. Then, after you have a guaranteed 25%ish health regained every turn (unless they spin/rain runs out/they use knock off/taunt) spam Giga Drain/Scald. Or, if you run toxic, use that for more annoyance/residual damage. If using Protect, be sure to use that every other turn so you can wall more stuff (unless they predict the Protect and use that turn to set up). EVs maximize bulk with a little investment in SpA. Substitute is also an option to avoid status and stop Pokemon without attacks or Pokemon that rely on coverage that hits for less than 25% damage.
Taunt Will-O-Mew beats this set as it can taunt (its faster), burn, then roost off any damage you try to do to it. Also, Gunk Shot Greninja, and pretty much every flying/bug/poison move that is special (and some more powerful ones that are physical) will 1-2HKO Ludicolo.

Ludicolo @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature/Modest Nature
- Rain Dance
- Scald
- Giga Drain
- Ice Beam

Standard special attacking Ludicolo set. Life Orb boosts power, Rain Dance activates Swift Swim so you out-speed lots of stuff. Scald is STAB and works well in rain, Giga Drain is STAB and recovery (helpful when using Life Orb, especially if you can hit something for SE damage). Ice Beam is coverage. Decent enough, especially with Swift Swim, but water has better special attackers that hit harder immediately or have better set up moves than rain dance (Specs Keldeo/CM Slowbro for example).

Physical Ludicolo: (Thanks to Dancer Miror B for this set)

Ludicolo @ Leftovers/Life Orb
Ability: Rain Dish/Swift Swim
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Rain Dance
- Fake Out
- Drain Punch/Brick Break/Power-Up Punch
- Bullet Seed

This set is pretty self-explanatory, and also pretty bad :I. Base 70 attack is not very good, but you can use this if you run special ninja and don't use any other physcial attackers, or just for the surprise factor as no one expects this (probably for good reason). Rain Dance is mandatory. Rain Dish/Lefties is for healing, Swift Swim/Life Orb is for sweeping (lol). Fake Out does damage without you taking damage (first turn only) and Ludicolo can switch in and out and spam it (also handy because if you switch out to Politoed, rain gets set up without Ludicolo having to do it by itself, but). Drain Punch is recovery and hits Steels/Normals/Darks (obviously). Brick Break is an alternative to break screens (and if you hate recovery). Power-Up Punch is useful to raise your mediocre attack. Bullet Seed is STAB, and can have 125 BP if you get lucky. Not recommended to use this set, but it IS an option.

Alternate Moves:
  • Waterfall: usable STAB on physcial set
  • Return: has decent power, could be used on physical set
  • Dive: could be used as a STAB on physical set to stall for more Rain Dish/Lefties recovery
  • Surf/Hydro Pump: usable over Scald for more power/even more power (and less accuracy) respectively, but generally Ludicolo is a staller that prefers the burn chance
  • Teeter Dance: usable for kick and giggles I guess
  • Elemental Punches: coverage on physical set, usually not worth it

Why C Rank? Basically, Ludicolo isn't that good. It has got electric/grass neutrality, but in exchange for weaknesses to 3 common types in the monotype metagame. Its main claim to fame is Leech Seed, which does nothing to grass types/Sap Sipper Pokemon. It has potential to be a wall, but its attacking sets are barely usable. I have seen it used extremely well, but for a beginning player, it is easier to use a wall such as Lanturn instead (who also can support with Heal Bell). It does have grass STAB for killing Gastrodon (which can be troubling to water sometimes)/Swampert/Quagsire, but is walled by just about every taunter/wall respectively for its different sets. It has usage as a rain setter however. Also, it needs help to function at its best. It can set rain itself (and is its main support move for teammates), but prefers it if Politoed does that, and needs Heal Bell Lanturn/Alomomola as status hurts it. Therefore I think Ludiyolo should be C Rank on water as it does have a niche (Leech Seed/Gastro killer) but doesn't greatly help mono water. I could even see D Rank, but I think Ludicolo is better than that.

I can live with your ranking (although D rank would be more appropriate since Damp Rock's dead)

Ludicolo @ Leftovers
Ability: Rain Dish
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpA 248 HP / 252 SpD / 8 SpA
Bold Nature Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Rain Dance
- Giga Drain Scald
- Leech Seed
- Substitute

Ludicolo is good on Water because of its Grass neutrality. Its Phy Defense sucks anyways, so why waste it there? Also, I chose Scald over Giga because there's no point wasting the extra power Rain gives. A chance to burn is nice as well. Sub is great against passive mons such as P2 & Chansey.

0 SpA Porygon2 Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Ludicolo: 49-58 (13.4 - 15.9%) -- possible 7HKO
252 SpA Life Orb Protean Greninja Grass Knot (80 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Ludicolo: 105-125 (28.8 - 34.3%) -- 0% chance to 4HKO after Rain Dish recovery and Leftovers recovery

nothing else really

SS Set:

Ludicolo @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Rain Dance Focus Blast
- Scald Hydro Pump
- Giga Drain / Surf
- Ice Beam

Ludicolo is so frail that it can't really set up a Rain Dance safely. Since Damp Rock's banned, no one expects Swift Swim anymore so you can run a Modest Nature. Focus Blast is mandatory on Ludicolo because it's the only reason why you'd run it. Focus Blast lets it hit Ferrothorn hard who'd otherwise wall Kingdra & Kabutops. Also, Ludi is kinda weak so you have to run Hydro Pump if you're running Life Orb. Giga Drain was used to hit other Ludicolos / Swift Swimmers but no one uses it anymore so you can use Surf if you want something safer. Ice Beam is mandatory for Dragons, who'd otherwise wall you pretty hard.

And Inscribe I'd finish Chomp first before writing Gallade since other people might want to write it. Also, Dark and Water would run different sets since Water doesn't have to worry about Fairies.

For Dark:

LONGJAWG8R (Sharpedo) @ Sharpedonite
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature (Naughty if running Hydro)
- Poison Fang / Hydro Pump
- Waterfall
- Crunch
- Protect

0 SpA Sharpedo Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Skarmory: 171-202 (51.1 - 60.4%) -- 92.6% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery No switch ins for you :]
0 SpA Sharpedo Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-T: 308-366 (80.6 - 95.8%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock No switch in for you either

Honestly, it depends on what your team needs.

For Water:

Tbh, Mega Pedo is pretty useless on Water. It's only niche is this I guess

252+ Atk Strong Jaw Sharpedo Crunch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Mega Venusaur: 142-168 (39 - 46.1%) -- 21.5% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock

It's weak to Breloom's Mach Punch, Ferrothorn walls it, and so does Phy Def Cradily. Water destroys Electric so no need to prepare for that.

LONGJAWG8R (Sharpedo) @ Sharpedonite
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Ice Fang
- Waterfall
- Crunch
- Protect

I guess you can get some nice Ice coverage in. It can't 1HKO Mega Altaria, but it forces it to kill you if you're at +1. You'll kill everything else tho

252+ Atk Dragonite Extreme Speed vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Sharpedo: 131-155 (46.6 - 55.1%) -- 69.5% chance to 2HKO < Be careful of that

Ik you aren't finished, but I felt like helping you :]
Edit: Maybe B Rank on Dark, C Rank on Water? Mega Bro outclasses it anyway, and Water has a hard time getting Pedo in safely.
 
OK I thought this when I read through the S Ranks, but I feel that with the emergence of Mega Gallade as a premier threat for Fighting teams, Mega Medicham should move down to A. It makes little sense to have 2 megas who are very similar in the same rank, when I feel that Gallade has been proven to outclass it thanks to it's better match-up versus offense due to it's speed tier, which is even more prevalent in Monotype thanks to teams likely only having one mon that may outspeed it. Then there's it's access to Close Combat which is nice for the chance not to ruin yourself with 50% recoil, as well as the opportunity to boost that with Swords Dance. Then there's it's increased bulk, allowing it more opportunities to stay in or to tank priority better, or Special hits in general.

tl;dr Keep Mega Gallade in S, move Mega Medicham to A
 
Anttyaz I mean I have difficulty beating rnbs and mega pika's dark monos, more because they are good vs dark itself, but articuno is a godsend against them more than a curse, but i won't fight you guys anymore on this topic as I more or less agree with newer users not being able to handle it.
 
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Wouldn't Earthquake on Mega-pedo make sense for a mono-water ? I can understand the point of running Poison Fang against fairies that resist Crunch but there are not the main problem of monowater in general. Plus Waterfall seems a little bit redundant for a say monowater when it's coverage isn't that usefull with Crunch, I think Ice fang would be better (in fact you mentioned it but it's not in the set and a begineer is generally going to copy paste the set without reading the information)

By the way Poion Jab hits stronger than Poison fang after factoring strong Jaw so if you running Poison fang only to say "my ability is usefull" it doesn't make much sense ...
 
I'm not a savant of dark or water, and much less sharpedo. But defensive walls will be switching into sharpedo, any wall that isn't steel or poison probably doesn't appreciate the 50% chance to badly poison a target with poison fang, which still hits decently hard after strong jaw. I think Inscribe got the best set it is going to get. You could run aqua jet (already fast) or hydro pump as Anttyaz said (but poison fang is cooler imo). The only slash I would recommend is substitute vs protect, that way if you come in on a slower threat, or one that is going to switch out, you can really punish them. So...

Sharpedo @ Sharpedonite
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature/ Naughty Nature
- Poison Fang/Hydro Pump
- Waterfall
- Crunch
- Protect/Substitute

B/C rank for both dark and water imo. I can't see why a water user who hates grass would run this over bounce gyara, and this is more of a novelty choice for dark users. I personally hate fighting it, but it rarely ends the game outside of cleaning an entire weakened team, whereas a DD gyara or CM sableye can. It reminds me of a physical scarf greninja, it is fast and doesn't let most things switch in to get 2HKOd, but in return it gets KOd pretty easily and must leave if a healthy target comes in.
 
I'm not a savant of dark or water, and much less sharpedo. But defensive walls will be switching into sharpedo, any wall that isn't steel or poison probably doesn't appreciate the 50% chance to badly poison a target with poison fang, which still hits decently hard after strong jaw. I think Inscribe got the best set it is going to get. You could run aqua jet (already fast) or hydro pump as Anttyaz said (but poison fang is cooler imo). The only slash I would recommend is substitute vs protect, that way if you come in on a slower threat, or one that is going to switch out, you can really punish them. So...

Sharpedo @ Sharpedonite
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature/ Naughty Nature
- Poison Fang/Hydro Pump
- Waterfall
- Crunch
- Protect/Substitute

B/C rank for both dark and water imo. I can't see why a water user who hates grass would run this over bounce gyara, and this is more of a novelty choice for dark users. I personally hate fighting it, but it rarely ends the game outside of cleaning an entire weakened team, whereas a DD gyara or CM sableye can. It reminds me of a physical scarf greninja, it is fast and doesn't let most things switch in to get 2HKOd, but in return it gets KOd pretty easily and must leave if a healthy target comes in.

You didn't even argue for the Waterfall usefullness, because you can pretty much replace Waterfall with Ice Fang. By the way if the real argument is "it has 50% chance to badly poison", then he just had to say it in his post. And badly poisoned doesn't really help much more than normal poison, because nomal poison makes more damage for 3 first turn (same for the last one), thus a 2HKO / 3HKO will be easier with normal poison. And if you're going to argue Sharpedo can switch out the wall and the wall is severely weakened by bad poison on the long time, then MSharp didn't do its job and won't be able to get those Speed Boosts again. Finally, if we both take into consideration the fact that Poison Jab hits stronger than Poison Jaw, and that the first turn makes more damage, Poison Jab really facilitates 2HKO. And you can even not evolve and go for a strong Poison Jab if you know you're gonna switch (which will happen several times when the opponent's wall are still there).

Also what about the EQ/Ice fang coverage, you didn't say anything about that. To me it sounds better than a water/poison coverage.
(If you're really gonna slash hydro pump which CAN be usefull, at least slash it on Waterfall)
 
I personally think that it should stay at C or move up to B at most. You're right, it's a beast at the hands of an experienced player, but it's way too hard to use for beginners. It does a great job walling special Ice types, but it has trouble against Dark + Greninja (which is its main niche). As you go higher up the ladder, Dark's Stealth Rocker is generally a Tyranitar that has Stone Edge + Fire Blast. This prevents you from Defogging until it's off the field / dead. You can Defog, but chances are, your Defogger's dead while T-tar can switch out and come back later. Once you have rocks up on Articuno's side, the Dark user can pressure you w/ a mixture of Greninja, and T-tar. Sure, you can switch in Articuno (and lose 50% of your health) and roost, this leaves you at at 100 while Tyranitar comes right back out to pressure you with Stone Edge. If you try and attack Greninja, then Articuno's dead the next time it switches in once you factor in Sandstorm damage. Basically, you're forced to Roost every time you come in making it extremely hard for Articuno to do its job while the Dark user can whittle away its health (esp if T-tar has Pursuit). It does do a great job against Ice, but so do SpDef Charizard & Rest Talk Mega Dos. Because of that, I feel like it's outclassed in some ways, and it's extremely hard to use in others, making it great where it is.


I feel like Rotom-W should be C rank for Water since it offers nothing special outside of Will-o-Wisp, Trick & a Lando-I check. Earthquake immunity isn't important at all unless if you struggle with Sand Rush Excadrill. (if so, try defensive Swampert :P) Electric neutrality is nice, but it faces competition with Lanturn who is better in almost every single way. As for your sets, I feel like only the first and fourth sets are somewhat viable. The other two are flat out outclassed.

Maybe change the Word Doc into a .txt so you can easily edit?

I'm not targeting you or anything, so don't feel offended, but your sets need some help if they're going to be helpful.

First set:

Rotom-Wash @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Trick
- Will-o-Wisp
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump

Rotom-W makes a pretty good Grass Knot absorber, and Volt Switch pressures fast and frail mons such as Greninja. Trick cripples any wall that might switch in. Will-o-Wisp is great in general, and scarf Willo is pretty good against stuff such as +1 Mega Altaria & Dragonite.

There is absolutely no reason to run Hex on Rotom-W since it gains so STAB from it. (Volt Switch + Hydro Pump are stronger if you factor in STAB. They hit Psychic & Ghost neutrally so no point running that.)

Last set:

Rotom-Wash @ Light Clay
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Will-o-Wisp / Pain Split
- Volt Switch / Pain Split

This is probs my favorite Rotom-W set on Water. Light Clay is obvious, since it makes your screens last longer. Screens are screens. Will-o-Wisp prevents physical sweepers from setting up on you, and Volt Switch lets you keep your momentum up while getting your sweepers in safely. Pain Split is there if you want to last longer, but I personally feel like Will-o + Volt Switch are better.

If you really want, you can keep the third set, but it's meh in Water Monotypes (Outclassed by Lanturn + Swampert)

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Will-o-Wisp
- Pain Split
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch

Standard Rotom-W. There's no need to speed creep Azu since a majority of water types can tank a Aqua Jet and deal with it. Pain Split is great on this set since it can recover some lost HP. I chose 252 Def instead of SpDef is because Lanturn's going to be your SpDef wall anyways. (They make a decent core now that I think of it .3.)



I can live with your ranking (although D rank would be more appropriate since Damp Rock's dead)

Ludicolo @ Leftovers
Ability: Rain Dish
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpA 248 HP / 252 SpD / 8 SpA
Bold Nature Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Rain Dance
- Giga Drain Scald
- Leech Seed
- Substitute

Ludicolo is good on Water because of its Grass neutrality. Its Phy Defense sucks anyways, so why waste it there? Also, I chose Scald over Giga because there's no point wasting the extra power Rain gives. A chance to burn is nice as well. Sub is great against passive mons such as P2 & Chansey.

0 SpA Porygon2 Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Ludicolo: 49-58 (13.4 - 15.9%) -- possible 7HKO
252 SpA Life Orb Protean Greninja Grass Knot (80 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Ludicolo: 105-125 (28.8 - 34.3%) -- 0% chance to 4HKO after Rain Dish recovery and Leftovers recovery

nothing else really

SS Set:

Ludicolo @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Rain Dance Focus Blast
- Scald Hydro Pump
- Giga Drain / Surf
- Ice Beam

Ludicolo is so frail that it can't really set up a Rain Dance safely. Since Damp Rock's banned, no one expects Swift Swim anymore so you can run a Modest Nature. Focus Blast is mandatory on Ludicolo because it's the only reason why you'd run it. Focus Blast lets it hit Ferrothorn hard who'd otherwise wall Kingdra & Kabutops. Also, Ludi is kinda weak so you have to run Hydro Pump if you're running Life Orb. Giga Drain was used to hit other Ludicolos / Swift Swimmers but no one uses it anymore so you can use Surf if you want something safer. Ice Beam is mandatory for Dragons, who'd otherwise wall you pretty hard.

And Inscribe I'd finish Chomp first before writing Gallade since other people might want to write it. Also, Dark and Water would run different sets since Water doesn't have to worry about Fairies.

For Dark:

LONGJAWG8R (Sharpedo) @ Sharpedonite
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature (Naughty if running Hydro)
- Poison Fang / Hydro Pump
- Waterfall
- Crunch
- Protect

0 SpA Sharpedo Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Skarmory: 171-202 (51.1 - 60.4%) -- 92.6% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery No switch ins for you :]
0 SpA Sharpedo Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-T: 308-366 (80.6 - 95.8%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock No switch in for you either

Honestly, it depends on what your team needs.

For Water:

Tbh, Mega Pedo is pretty useless on Water. It's only niche is this I guess

252+ Atk Strong Jaw Sharpedo Crunch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Mega Venusaur: 142-168 (39 - 46.1%) -- 21.5% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock

It's weak to Breloom's Mach Punch, Ferrothorn walls it, and so does Phy Def Cradily. Water destroys Electric so no need to prepare for that.

LONGJAWG8R (Sharpedo) @ Sharpedonite
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Ice Fang
- Waterfall
- Crunch
- Protect

I guess you can get some nice Ice coverage in. It can't 1HKO Mega Altaria, but it forces it to kill you if you're at +1. You'll kill everything else tho

252+ Atk Dragonite Extreme Speed vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Sharpedo: 131-155 (46.6 - 55.1%) -- 69.5% chance to 2HKO < Be careful of that

Ik you aren't finished, but I felt like helping you :]
Edit: Maybe B Rank on Dark, C Rank on Water? Mega Bro outclasses it anyway, and Water has a hard time getting Pedo in safely.

I will change Rotoms writeup to text, but it might take a while, so I'll do it in stages. I think C Rank is a little low for Rotom. The way I see it (extremely simplified, please correct me if I'm wrong) is that S Rank is for Pokemon that are almost mandatory to be competitive, A Rank is for useful Pokemon who are on most viable teams, B Rank is for Pokemon you can stick in on your 5th or 6th slot and know they can be somewhat useful, C Rank is mostly outclassed but with a niche against a few type matchups (and can be used effectively by skilled players against other matchups), D Rank has one unique thing it can do, E Rank is please don't use. In my opinion, Rotom-W can be stuck on most water teams and help out. It has 2 things it can effectively do: Trick/WoW to cripple opposing Pokemon or set up double screens as support. Screens can let a teammate set up and take an extra hit (helpful for CM Keldeo/Slowbro), and crippling opposing walls is always helpful, especially late game. Also, Lefties is an option just so you can setup screens later, as Pain Split is unreliable (especially as you want them to lose HP because of WoW).
Also, for the first set, isn't Specs more useful? It allows Rotom to hit harder before it Tricks and doesn't give opposing Pokemon more speed (which can be potentially fatal to your team late game). Specs also KILLS Azumarill as it doesn't help it at all, and if you Trick before it Belly Drums, it loses 50% health and can't attack ^_^. I only mentioned Hex cuz it hits Ghosts/Psychics/Volt Absorb Lanturn harder and is funny with WoW. While it only does 23-26% (with 4 SpA EVs) to Lanturn, Lanturn is HEALED by electric, and 2x resists water. Also, why full speed/SpA? Isn't Rotom's job to Trick/WoW/wall while doing chip damage?
3rd set I've never personally run, but it is another option that has been used effectively and was suggested to me by a fellow monotyker.

As for Ludicolo, I believe it is better than D Rank. It can be used effectively, and has a niche against a few type matchups (Ground/Electric/Water). I swept 1/2 of a psychic team just using Ludicolo (using the defensive Leech Seed/Scald/Giga Drain/Rain Dance set). I thought I mentioned that it could run SpD over Def if you want, but must have forgot to add it :P (I learned from my Word Doc mistake and did in stages, going back and editing, so it probably just slipped my mind). I mostly used the defensive set, and it beat Deoxys/Victini/Slowbro/wiped 1/2 health off of Mega Medicham. I will slash Hydro Pump over Scald and Focus Blast instead of Rain Dance (as you are right, without investment it is frail). I think it is sort of in the same boat as Articuno: outclassed in most ways, has a niche against a couple of type matchups, has a bad weakness (Rock for Articuno, 2x weakness to common types for Ludicolo), but can be used extremely effectively by skilled players.

Tl; DR:
Rotom-Wash is easy to put on just about any water team and use effectively so B Rank.
Ludicolo has a niche against a few types, but takes a little more work to use effectively so C Rank. Also, a nickname like Ludiyolo means it can't be D Rank XD.
I will change the sets.
 
You didn't even argue for the Waterfall usefullness, because you can pretty much replace Waterfall with Ice Fang. By the way if the real argument is "it has 50% chance to badly poison", then he just had to say it in his post. And badly poisoned doesn't really help much more than normal poison, because nomal poison makes more damage for 3 first turn (same for the last one), thus a 2HKO / 3HKO will be easier with normal poison. And if you're going to argue Sharpedo can switch out the wall and the wall is severely weakened by bad poison on the long time, then MSharp didn't do its job and won't be able to get those Speed Boosts again. Finally, if we both take into consideration the fact that Poison Jab hits stronger than Poison Jaw, and that the first turn makes more damage, Poison Jab really facilitates 2HKO. And you can even not evolve and go for a strong Poison Jab if you know you're gonna switch (which will happen several times when the opponent's wall are still there).

Also what about the EQ/Ice fang coverage, you didn't say anything about that. To me it sounds better than a water/poison coverage.
(If you're really gonna slash hydro pump which CAN be usefull, at least slash it on Waterfall)

Fishing for super effective attacks isn't always the best idea when making sets. If I were to slash hydro pump over waterfall, I lose all that attacking power I ev'd for just to have another move slot to put random things in. Many cases like the following one arise if you remove waterfall, as anything that resists dark is no longer afraid of sharpedo.

0 SpA Sharpedo Hydro Pump vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Terrakion: 282-332 (87.3 - 102.7%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO

252+ Atk Strong Jaw Sharpedo Ice Fang vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Terrakion: 134-158 (41.4 - 48.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

252+ Atk Sharpedo Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Terrakion: 276-326 (85.4 - 100.9%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO

However if waterfall was in the picture,

252+ Atk Sharpedo Waterfall vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Terrakion: 332-392 (102.7 - 121.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Ice fang/EQ don't net any secured OHKOs that aren't 4x weak or already physically frail, and crunch/waterfall will 2HKO everything ice fang/eq will 2HKO except for things that exist in the dual resist region, so poliwrath, azumarill, shiftry, breloom, sharpedo, cacturne, crawdaunt, whimsicott, hydreigon, virizion, keldeo, chesnaught, and greninja (13 pokes). Of which EQ hits ZERO for SE damage (switch now), and ice fang hits 7(some of whick KO some don't).

252+ Atk Strong Jaw Sharpedo Ice Fang vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Goodra: 328-388 (85.6 - 101.3%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO

252+ Atk Strong Jaw Sharpedo Crunch vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Goodra: 306-360 (79.8 - 93.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252+ Atk Strong Jaw Sharpedo Crunch vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Klinklang: 202-238 (77 - 90.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252+ Atk Sharpedo Earthquake vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Klinklang: 226-266 (86.2 - 101.5%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO

Keep in mind that chance to KO only applies to pokemon on monotypes that happen to be weak to ice, the rest laugh at ice fang, so yes I would say dark/water/poison >> ground/poison/(water or dark) because the water and dark get STAB, and losing 1 of those hinders it. This thing isn't greninja where everything it fires off does an unholy amount of damage. For this poison jab vs poison fang debate,

252+ Atk Sharpedo Poison Jab vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Clefable: 178-210 (45.1 - 53.2%) -- 0.4% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ Atk Strong Jaw Sharpedo Poison Fang vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Clefable: 168-198 (42.6 - 50.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

3% vs big badly poisoned chance across the board. At best poison fang can poison something if it is cornered and has nothing to do, but otherwise waterfall and crunch outclass all of it's other moves to the point it may not even be worth running 4 moves (yolo). In fact, after doing the calcs for this I agree with Anttyaz that using hydro pump or maybe dark pulse are the only other reasonable options.
 
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The point of Hydro Pump is to break past Physical walls you otherwise couldn't, such as Skarmory and to an extent Hippowdon

252+ Atk Strong Jaw Sharpedo Crunch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Skarmory: 129-153 (38.6 - 45.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

252+ Atk Sharpedo Waterfall vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Hippowdon: 194-230 (46.1 - 54.7%) -- 60.9% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

252+ Atk Strong Jaw Sharpedo Crunch vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Avalugg: 105-124 (26.7 - 31.5%) -- 51.9% chance to 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

0 SpA Sharpedo Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Skarmory: 171-202 (51.1 - 60.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

0 SpA Sharpedo Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Hippowdon: 336-396 (80 - 94.2%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

0 SpA Sharpedo Hydro Pump vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Avalugg: 237-279 (60.3 - 70.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

Just from these 3 walls in the metagame, it should be fairly obvious why Hydro is a viable choice. Tbh I wouldn't be adverse to seeing Ice Beam somewhere but that's arguable, however Hydro does have a lot of merit in making Sharpedo a better cleaner and gives it more utility against bulkier teams.
 
252+ Atk Sharpedo Poison Jab vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Clefable: 178-210 (45.1 - 53.2%) -- 0.4% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ Atk Strong Jaw Sharpedo Poison Fang vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Clefable: 168-198 (42.6 - 50.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

3% vs big badly poisoned chance across the board. At best poison fang can poison something if it is cornered and has nothing to do, but otherwise waterfall and crunch outclass all of it's other moves to the point it may not even be worth running 4 moves (yolo). In fact, after doing the calcs for this I agree with Anttyaz that using hydro pump or maybe dark pulse are the only other reasonable options.

Yeah because I am really afraid of MagicGuard Clefa. Btw if it's not Magic Guard, then Stealth Rock helps to KO. And if Stealth rocks are not up, Poison Jab stil has 30% chance to normally poison, so for that situation Poison Jab is always better. So I don't think it's the best example to support your opinion.

Fishing for super effective attacks isn't always the best idea when making sets. If I were to slash hydro pump over waterfall, I lose all that attacking power I ev'd for just to have another move slot to put random things in. Many cases like the following one arise if you remove waterfall, as anything that resists dark is no longer afraid of sharpedo.

0 SpA Sharpedo Hydro Pump vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Terrakion: 248-294 (76.7 - 91%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252+ Atk Strong Jaw Sharpedo Ice Fang vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Terrakion: 134-158 (41.4 - 48.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

252+ Atk Sharpedo Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Terrakion: 276-326 (85.4 - 100.9%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO

However if waterfall was in the picture,

252+ Atk Sharpedo Waterfall vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Terrakion: 332-392 (102.7 - 121.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
0 SpA Sharpedo Hydro Pump vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Terrakion: 282-332 (87.3 - 102.7%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
At least raise its SpA after MEvolving. And btw if Terrakion is the only thing that afraid you can run a little SpA investment. 88 is enough to guarantee the OHKO after SR.

Obviously there are some case where Waterfall is better than Hydro Pump. If there was not everyone would run Hydro. Showing one calc isn't relevant at all, because Hydro Pump can actually kill so many things Waterfall fails to kill. running both Waterfall and Hydro Pump would give you a lot less coverage, and force you to switch in more cases, and a MSharp who switch out is a wasted Sharp. And once again, a mono-water don't need Water coverage, or may be only one buth two is really wasting your moveslot. All Monowater needs with a strong sweeper is being able to kill everything it can't with your teammantes. Even if it's STAB, something which don't fear water STAB against the rest of your team still don't fear it against MSharp.

Ice fang/EQ don't net any secured OHKOs that aren't 4x weak or already physically frail, and crunch/waterfall will 2HKO everything ice fang/eq will 2HKO except for things that exist in the dual resist region, so poliwrath, azumarill, shiftry, breloom, sharpedo, cacturne, crawdaunt, whimsicott, hydreigon, virizion, keldeo, chesnaught, and greninja (13 pokes). Of which EQ hits ZERO for SE damage (switch now), and ice fang hits 7(some of whick KO some don't).

The thing is that you mentioned 13 Pokemon relevant in the dual region ; however you forgot that something which is weak against ice (or ground) and neutral to water will take more damage with your coverage move than with your STAB move. Plus, it applies to every pokemon weak to Ice or Ground and neutral against Water and Dark. And this is where it becomes interesting, because Electric is always a threat to Mono-Water, and keep in a Mega-Sharpedo with no move SE against Electricc is suicide. I mean, may be your STAB is enough to 2HKO something. But if you die right after because you failed to OHKO, and took a Electric attack in the face, it's sad. Earthquake solves this problem. It allows it to continue the sweep, not only to start it. The same thing goes for Ice fang which does good damages against Flying and Dragon. And saying that it is only usefull against pokemon that are 4* weak to this is far from being a good argument as there are plenty of them which are in fact good checks to MSharp running waterfall. And Flying/Ground pokemon take more damage from an Ice Fang than from a Waterfall.


Now, keep in mind I don't say my thoughts and my set / options are better than yours, (because that's what you're trying to do), I only say that it REALLY deserve a mention in the MSharp set because it is far from being useless.
 
Ayy Ramplestilskin I'm not trying to personally fight you, but I am fighting you in the sense that we have differences in priority when teambuilding. If it came out that I'm insulting you in any way I'm sorry m8, not my intention at all. I'm just mentioning that this thing doesn't net many KOs outside of it's physical dual STAB and that should be kept in mind. I did in fact mention a calc in which ice fang was superior to crunch with the goodra clac (and the klinklang calc). It beats crunch by 6% and exists outside of the secured OHKO range without rocks. I do not appreciate you calling me out however, as you were the one who said,

You didn't even argue for the Waterfall usefullness, because you can pretty much replace Waterfall with Ice Fang. By the way if the real argument is "it has 50% chance to badly poison", then he just had to say it in his post. And badly poisoned doesn't really help much more than normal poison, because nomal poison makes more damage for 3 first turn (same for the last one), thus a 2HKO / 3HKO will be easier with normal poison. And if you're going to argue Sharpedo can switch out the wall and the wall is severely weakened by bad poison on the long time, then MSharp didn't do its job and won't be able to get those Speed Boosts again. Finally, if we both take into consideration the fact that Poison Jab hits stronger than Poison Jaw, and that the first turn makes more damage, Poison Jab really facilitates 2HKO. And you can even not evolve and go for a strong Poison Jab if you know you're gonna switch (which will happen several times when the opponent's wall are still there).

Also what about the EQ/Ice fang coverage, you didn't say anything about that. To me it sounds better than a water/poison coverage.
(If you're really gonna slash hydro pump which CAN be usefull, at least slash it on Waterfall)

all of that (which were direct attacks to me), and I merely addressed all of the complaints you had with my last post (so don't act like you didn't instigate a post from me). My last paragraph expressed my opinion that I feel the extra coverage is not as useful as the dual STABs as if you take the coverage you are missing something else (the eternal problem). Yes ice fang hits some things harder but even when we factor in rocks for ice/eq/poison jab, poison fang/crunch/waterfall do about (not quite as you have mentioned) the same and I thought it was worth mentioning crunch/waterfall have more usability across the board. I am a person with opinions and as such should be taken lightly and with a grain of salt, as I am biased and imperfect (i forgot to mega evo on accident for terrakion calc, good catch). Don't take things as if I just punched your mom.

As a side note, electric teams usually have half of their members up in the air (zapdos, rotom, eelektross, air balloons). If every time I see sharpedo I'm thinking earthquake I'm getting the hell out of there and going zapdos or something. I would imagine losing a turn earthquaking to an immunity really blows. And if water monos are desperately looking to defeat ground and dragon and flying (water monos do carry ice beam most of the time, like water attacks, as you have mentioned) then so be it, run ice fang! I don't run water and don't know what they desperately need, but from a laywatermonoer's perspective, I don't see it that crucial (maybe it is, I don't know).

(I fixed the terrakion calc to show the mega evo results)
 
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Ayy Ramplestilskin I'm not trying to personally fight you, but I am fighting you in the sense that we have differences in priority when teambuilding. If it came out that I'm insulting you in any way I'm sorry m8, not my intention at all. I'm just mentioning that this thing doesn't net many KOs outside of it's physical dual STAB and that should be kept in mind. I did in fact mention a calc in which ice fang was superior to crunch with the goodra clac (and the klinklang calc). It beats crunch by 6% and exists outside of the secured OHKO range without rocks. I do not appreciate you calling me out however, as you were the one who said,



all of that (which were direct attacks to me), and I merely addressed all of the complaints you had with my last post (so don't act like you didn't instigate a post from me). My last paragraph expressed my opinion that I feel the extra coverage is not as useful as the dual STABs as if you take the coverage you are missing something else (the eternal problem). Yes ice fang hits some things harder but even when we factor in rocks for ice/eq/poison jab, poison fang/crunch/waterfall do about (not quite as you have mentioned) the same and I thought it was worth mentioning crunch/waterfall have more usability across the board. I am a person with opinions and as such should be taken lightly and with a grain of salt, as I am biased and imperfect (i forgot to mega evo on accident for terrakion calc, good catch). Don't take things as if I just punched your mom.

As a side note, electric teams usually have half of their members up in the air (zapdos, rotom, eelektross, air balloons). If every time I see sharpedo I'm thinking earthquake I'm getting the hell out of there and going zapdos or something. I would imagine losing a turn earthquaking to an immunity really blows. And if water monos are desperately looking to defeat ground and dragon and flying (water monos do carry ice beam most of the time, like water attacks, as you have mentioned) then so be it, run ice fang! I don't run water and don't know what they desperately need, but from a laywatermonoer's perspective, I don't see it that crucial (maybe it is, I don't know).

(I fixed the terrakion calc to show the mega evo results)

Sorry if the "(because that's what you're trying to do)" seemed agressive too, that wasn't my intention and I know you're not fighting me, I was indeed waiting for an answer. But in the said answer, it seemed like you said there was only one set viable and that was not my opinion. You could have say "I think the set with Waterfall is better, but your point also make sense and it could be mentioned" and it would have be fine. Actually, I think that a set without Waterfall and with both Earthquake and Ice fang is better (I bolded it because I don't know why, it seems it wasn't that clear), but if you think it's the other then fine I may be wrong too but still it has other options to run. There isn't only one set viable, that's the only thing I wanted to agree with.

To be clear, if I had to make a Mega-Sharp sets FOR MONO WATER, it would be this :

Sharpedo @ Sharpedonite
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Ice Fang
- Earthquake
- Crunch
- Protect/substitute

Sharpedo @ Sharpedonite
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Poison Jab
- Waterfall
- Crunch
- Protect/substitute

Sharpedo @ Sharpedonite
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 148 Atk / 104 SpA / 252 Spe
Naughty Nature
- Poison Jab / Hidden power[fire]
- Waterfall / Hydro pump
- Crunch
- Protect/substitute

Actually changes Inscribe made can be fine but this doesn't really fit with my arguments ><
And in all honesty I don't think Dark want Sharpedo as a Mega when it has acces to MSable but it's only my opinion.
 
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