Metagame USUM Monotype Metagame Discussion

[Havens]

Before I answer, I'd like to note that the point of our constructive criticism is not to insinuate that what you're saying is "utterly wrong", but rather we're trying to respectfully explain the faults in your reasoning. Certainly we can all be civilized in participating in healthy discussion without feeling attacked and bitter, no? While I don't necessarily agree with how some of these people express their discontent, that doesn't mean that I disagree with the base of their argument.

That being said, personal experience is can be, but isn't a true, defining factor when determining when a set is bad or not. You can use your own personal experience with a set to persuade someone to try them out WHEN you provide reasonable evidence with replays on ladder, seasonal replays, or various other tournament replays that showcase what these sets do firsthand, which is something that I'd like to see. Telling us to "try it out to prove your point" as a shot in the dark off of baseless claims does nothing but generate discontent and just rubs people the wrong way. Arguing about why "you're" right doesn't assist the situation better, as I'm watching this conversation escalate from persuasion of sets to attacking people, which is something that I know doesn't have to happen. Again, we can all be civilized here, no?

Lastly, if these sets are powerful and useful to a point where you believe they should be utilized by many, what makes them superior to any of our Ghost-type analyses on site? Take these Ghost analyses for instance with some of the pokemon that you listed:

https://www.smogon.com/dex/sm/pokemon/gengar/monotype/
https://www.smogon.com/dex/sm/pokemon/doublade/
https://www.smogon.com/dex/sm/pokemon/mimikyu/monotype/
https://www.smogon.com/dex/sm/pokemon/gengar/monotype/
https://www.smogon.com/dex/sm/pokemon/cofagrigus/
https://www.smogon.com/dex/sm/pokemon/mismagius/

Keep in mind that these kinds of analyses are reserved for the best pokemon in each type and are reflective of the state of the current metagame based on their viability. Also note that some of the pokemon you listed; Doublade, Cofagrigus, and Mismagius don't have any Monotype analyses currently on site, and are either ranked very low on the Viability Rankings, or not ranked at all. We'll be happy to try out the sets you listed, however the Viability Rankings is a very good indicator of what is useful in the current metagame or not, and is a standard for many willing community members to gauge what is good and not in the current metagame. If two out of the three mons you listed for example are unranked and one has a very low VR ranking, saying that they're undiscovered and claiming that they're better than what they seem sounds and looks misleading when an uninformed community member is building such a team for the first time. If you feel as if these sets can be used, come talk to any of the C&C team and we'd be happy to explain why we could use those sets of yours to write up (or respecfully communicate why we won't).

If I'm being honest, I tried a few of those mons myself in the way that you described, and I'm going to be honest with you and say that I really have no idea what the actual point of these sets are. Hardly any of these have any applicable use in the current metagame, most of them are just max / max spreads with no real purpose (and not even using the remaining 4 EVs either umu), and I'd firmly say that these sets are rather inferior on a type that is already really inferior in the current metagame. While I can respect the fact that you want us to explore utilizing Ghost teams further, and I applaud your bravery in doing so, I'm going to have to say that none of these sets are really outstanding to me that I'd be willing to use them, even casually. I'd be more than willing to try them again once there's more factual evidence and replays to support your claims, and don't let us dissuade you from posting.

 

[Eien]

Hi OnlyaPuppet welcome to Smogon (A bit late haha)! I’m glad you’re eager to share your experiences playing Monotype with the rest of us; that’s what metagame discussion is all about. However, I would like to remind you that a conversation requires all sides to be willing to accept opposing viewpoints, especially when provided with evidence contrary to one’s original thoughts.

Please keep in mind that no one is saying what you experience on the ladder isn’t possible. Certainly, I’m sure your sets have won you games multiple times and will continue to do so as you continue to play on our ladder. When we discuss the metagame and optimizing teams and sets for the ladder, we are looking to minimize losing. That means consistency in our choices, and it means we care more about winning 90 games out of 100 than just winning any 1 particular game that we happen to play. We also imagine our opponent is just as good if not better than we are, so we decide based on optimal play rather than our opponent making mistakes. This means we have the most control over whether we lose, not giving that control to our opponent in hopes of a stroke or disconnection.

With that in mind, that is why the community generally views Ghost as one of the worst types in Monotype. When you consider the frequency at which Ghost loses, it simply cannot be optimal for ladder play compared to almost any other type. In the past, we would compile win rates for individual types; without fail, ghost was at the bottom month after month and even year after year. For example, when we drill down and look at Ghost’s individual matchups, we can see how rarely Ghost has an advantage against other types. We don’t look at situations such as Blacephalon having two free turns against a Mega Venusaur that mysteriously doesnt have the Thick Fat ability. Instead, we look at the way games of Ghost vs Poison actually play out; we know Stealth Rock is impossible to prevent for Ghost against Poison without the help of specially defensive Mega Sableye. We know that the core of Toxapex, Mega Venusaur, and Alolan Muk is almost impossible to break without (importantly!) very intentionally cteaming, which necessarily weakens your other matchups. As a result, we know Ghost almost always loses to Poison given that both teams are ladder standard and both players are of equal caliber.

Ghost is an interesting type that unfortunately keeps having its most powerful Pokémon banned. You wanted an opinion from someone who would give your idea a chance. As someone who actually used Ghost in Monotype’s highest level tournament on Smogon against someone who’s a much better player than me in order to fish for a free win against Psychic, I have to agree it doesn’t have a ghost of a chance at seriously influencing the Monotype metagame in gen 7 because it simply lacks the most important thing: consistency. I won’t go into all the detail the others have because I don’t see the point in rehashing the same things you’ve been reading, but I hope you have a better understanding for why we go on and on about certain details or reject certain facts that you bring up. It’s not that we believe you don’t win games or that you haven’t experienced what you have, but it’s that our goal and reason for playing Pokémon and making the best teams possible mean we might just be prioritizing different criteria when we prepare for a match.

You’re free to continue posting, but I have to strongly suggest that you look back on this thread and see what kind of posts we want to see. I’m sure it’s not fun for you to have everyone arguing against you and throwing out your ideas, but it also isn’t fun for everyone else to see you ignore their arguments for why they disagree when it’s rooted in (literally) millions of Monotype games played per year.

 

[Aparctias]

If you want to prove to us how good these sets are, get some nice replays with them. If you're making a claim, the burden of evidence is on you, not the people you're making the claim to. You can't just say these seemingly mediocre sets are good and then tell us to use them to prove your own point, that is your job.

 

[NuttyRabbit]

What type of replays would you guys prefer, tournament? high middle low ladder and with famous, known, unknown players?

Try actual tournaments. Monotype World Cup, Seasonals, Monitor Winter Premier would do nicely. Or instead of those, pick some from decently high ladder if you really wanna go that route (talking 1500-1600s and beyond).

Actually, I'll do you one better. If these sets are as good as you claim them to be, then surely it should not be too difficult to get to high ladder with them and get replays from games you play there.

p.s. ghosts does have a few mons that can get rid of hazards.

The best ones it has are Dhelmise and Decidueye, and the latter is quite a bit better imo.

 

[nomadderwhat]

What do you guys think about this set? My team generally floats 1650-1850 with 1000+ games played for reference. There are replays below where it has been useful (I usually don't save replays so its what I've got).

Tyranitar @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Dragon Dance
- Endure

Notable reasons for running it include preventing azumarill sweeps, passively chipping anything for a scarf or my quick attack terrakion to revenge, helping nihilego chip excadrill vs ground to get it in range of grass knot, chipping m-lopunny without power-up punch to get rhyperior in range of a ko with earthquake. Regrettably, I don't have a normal victory replay where my opponent didn't simultaneously choke.

Hopefully the games are enjoyable to watch!

EDIT: Dragon dance is to put pressure on psychic / punish a sacrifice.

replays

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-898812987 vs dark (one of the times it randomly comes in handy, usually against scizor not this time)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-898378130 vs fairy
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-902749367 vs another fairy
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-901283510 vs ground

 

[smub]

What do you guys think about this set? My team generally floats 1650-1850 with 1000+ games played for reference. There are replays below where it has been useful (I usually don't save replays so its what I've got).

Tyranitar @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Dragon Dance
- Endure

Notable reasons for running it include preventing azumarill sweeps, passively chipping anything for a scarf or my quick attack terrakion to revenge, helping nihilego chip excadrill vs ground to get it in range of grass knot, chipping m-lopunny without power-up punch to get rhyperior in range of a ko with earthquake. Regrettably, I don't have a normal victory replay where my opponent didn't simultaneously choke.

Hopefully the games are enjoyable to watch!

EDIT: Dragon dance is to put pressure on psychic / punish a sacrifice.

replays

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-898812987 vs dark (one of the times it randomly comes in handy, usually against scizor not this time)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-898378130 vs fairy
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-902749367 vs another fairy
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-901283510 vs ground

The set definitely alleviates the Azumarill problem better than a few of the other methods. Getting up Sticky Web with Shuckle is already a hassle for 48 Speed Cradily, and even if you can, you'd still get bopped by Jolly Azu. I've normally preferred Nihilego's Toxic Spikes for when it can force out Tapu Bulu or Koko, but even that requires a few sacks. While unconventional, I could definitely see myself trying this sometime, cool set.

 

[Ninjamage]

https://pastebin.com/Qvseqkyw
this team overall has some interesting potential, with mega-sableye and shedinja as the core with anything hitting shedinja to kill, mega-sableye can switch in for free. anything super effective. dusclops, dusknoir or mega-sableye handle together as a unit. against a dark team, sub mimikyu helps overall with amazing damage, mind games and preventing will-o-wisp from hitting you. which if unexpected is guaranteed to beat your opponent.
(cofagrigus also has access to imprison, toxic, night shade and pain split. so quite honestly you could use him instead. however pressure does help things move faster among dusknoir has seismic toss, cofagrigus doesnt

I like that you're trying to get a lesser used type more recognition. I myself use a type that isn't seen too often. I would suggest using conventional ghost teams and getting familiar with them before making a team that looks like a bunch of theorymonning slapped together. I really don't understand how Shedinja helps at all on this team. Your only hazard control is Sableye-Mega, and if an opponent outplays it and manages to set hazards, Shedinja is automatically useless due to the lack of hazard removal. I don't really know much about ghost, but it seems to me that there are mons that can simply outperform those on your team. Wasting your Z move on boosting SpDef by 2 is very awkward, and that Shedinja set is straight up unusable. Resttalk sets are mainly used for tankier mons that can set up (Mega Steelix) not frail offensive mons.

 

[NuttyRabbit]

In the vein of changing the topic as well as presenting interesting sets, I would like to present a couple of spreads I've been toying around with on Poison. First up is everyone's favorite defogger on the type:

Crobat @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 200 HP / 112 Atk / 4 Def / 192 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Taunt
- Roost
- Defog

I came up with this spread after trying to find a bulkier spread for Crobat as opposed to the purely offensive one, while also trying to find something more offensive than the one in the Poison Sample Team, which was 248 HP / 156 Def / 104 Spe, and this spread is the result.

112 Attack guarantees an OHKO on Mega-Gallade even without rocks without having to use my Z-move

112 Atk Crobat Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Gallade-Mega: 278-330 (100.3 - 119.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO

192 speed combined with a Jolly nature lets it outspeed non-Scarf Greninja and OHKO with Z-Fly

112 Atk Crobat Supersonic Skystrike (190 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Greninja: 294-346 (103.1 - 121.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO

The rest of the EVs are put into HP and defense to maximize its bulk, letting it live stuff such as +2 Mega Pinsir Quick Attack even after rocks (Not the most relevant calc, but it is something to consider especially since Mega-Pinsir with webs up is an absolute nightmare for Poison)

+2 252 Atk Aerilate Pinsir-Mega Quick Attack vs. 200 HP / 4 Def Crobat: 214-253 (59.2 - 70%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

The next set I have to share is one for one of the most important parts of the type's defensive core: Muk-Alola

Muk-Alola @ Iapapa Berry
Ability: Gluttony
EVs: 248 HP / 100 Atk / 12 Def / 144 SpD / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Pursuit
- Poison Jab/Gunk Shot/Poison Fang
- Recycle

This spread in particular was modified by one TheThorn made for AV Muk . I simply adjusted the EVs to make up for the lack of an Assault Vest.

To start, 100 Attack with an Adamant nature secures an OHKO on Latios with Pursuit after Rocks

100+ Atk Muk-Alola Pursuit vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Latios: 264-312 (87.7 - 103.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

The 12 defense EVs guarantee that it lives one Scarf Victini V-Create even after rocks

252 Atk Victini V-create vs. 248 HP / 12 Def Muk-Alola: 306-361 (74 - 87.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

The 4 Speed EVs allow it to outspeed uninvested Chansey, and the rest of the EVs are used to help maximize its bulk. For the last attacking move, you have a decent amount of options. Poison Jab is the perfect mix of utility and power, giving you a semi-reliable way to poison your opponents while also dealing damage. Gunk Shot is if you want more power in exchange for lower accuracy and chance to poison. It can certainly help against pokemon like Clefable, Koko, etc. Finally, Poison Fang is an interesting option if you would prefer a higher chance to poison over damage output, and the chance to Toxic poison something is a rather nice thing to have should you want it.

I sadly do not have many replays with these sets, but if you have any questions , comments, or even suggestions I am more than open to taking them.

 

[SSBM_BADD]

Not to bring back in the Ghost Type discussion, but I've had a lot of fun running this Trick Room Ghost team on the ladder. I've gotten decent results with it, but would love to have some feedback on how to improve the team. Here's the poke-paste

Also some replay's of it in action down below. Obviously ghost is low tier, but this does catch quite a few people off guard even at around 1500-1600's on the ladder, I'm just looking to take it to the next level.
Just a note here, the 6th member (Golurk/Roberto Duran's spot) has switched as I've developed this team)

Vs Dragon

Vs Normal

Vs Bug

Vs Fighting (Fun note on this game, the Flash Cannon had 56% of KOing as he hit a max roll of 52.8% on my switch in)


VS Electric


Final thing, apologies in advance for the lack of editing, been a while since I posted this on a forum and I'm doing this from work :3
Cheers~~

 

[Moosical]

And with that, I'm going to move the thread over to presenting the usage statistics for the three generations of Monotype in MPL4 and its comparisons to other previous team tours during Gen7. The usage stats for MPL4 can be found in this link.
As a reference, here are my posts for the three previous team tours this generation that I'll be comparing to, each contain a link to the usage stats for each of the tours: Monotype BLT / MWP / MPL3.

I would also like to point out that for the purposes of win rate, mirror matches count as 1 win and 1 loss. While this isn't a super huge deal, it does slightly skew the win rates toward the middle point (50%) for types used very frequently.

USUM/SM

Prior to presenting the information, I'd like to summarize the changes in the metagames for each of these team tournaments. If we start with MPL3 as the "base metagame," then talk about the changes from there, they are as follow. Mega Medicham was banned in the middle of MPL3 (Week 4) which saw huge shifts in the usage of Psychic within the confines of that tournament, going from 20.42% usage to 6.52% usage pre- and post-ban (for the purposes of the MPL3 summary later, I will only talk about the "overall" usage, not pre- and post-ban). Shortly Following MPL3, Magearna was banned from SM Monotype which also saw big shifts in team composition. [Marshadow was released and quickbanned following MPL3 - not affecting any tournament play]. A little while later Shadow Tag was tested and banned in SM Monotype as well. Prior to MWP but after MPL3, we also saw the release of several Mega stones, most notably Altarianite, Lopunnite, Latiasite, Galladite, and Diancite. Next up was MWP, which also saw the release of USUM. This brought Pokemon such as Stakataka, Naganadel, and Blacephalon into the field of play. Naganadel was banned shortly after release, but in the middle of MWP. Following MWP, nothing was banned, allowing Monotype BLT to have the same banlist as the second half of MWP. Then going into MPL4, nothing was banned yet again; however, Zeraora was released prior to Week 6 of MPL4, although it did not impact the metagame much. Now into usage stats -

Starting with MPL4, there were 147 games played, 294 teams used.

There was surprisingly a good distribution of types used; the only two types used >10% of the time were Water (16.67%) and Psychic (13.61%). However, close runner-ups included Flying (9.86%), Normal (9.86%), and Fairy (9.18%).

Of these 5 types, Flying had the highest win rate of 65.52%, followed by Psychic (57.50%) and Fairy (51.85%). Water and Normal both had negative win rates (48.98% and 44.83%, respectively).

I would like to point out that Bug and Ground, which are typically considered decently good types, were only used in 1.36% and 2.38% of games, respectively.

Following this, I'll be hiding each previous tour with their comparison to MPL4 for the sake of organization.

Monotype BLT

Monotype BLT had a very low number of USUM games played at a measly 31, with 62 teams used. Therefore, due to the small sample size, this will be very brief.

The most used types within this tournament were Water (20.97%), Psychic (14.52%), Fairy (12.90%), and Normal (11.29%). The overall usage between the types was mostly comparable to MPL4, as would be expected as there were no changes to the metagame between these two tournaments.

MWP

MWP had a much smaller number of games played than MPL4, at 90 games (180 teams used). However, this is still a fair number for the purposes of comparisons. As I mentioned before, we saw the release of new Mega Stones, Stakataka, Blacephalon, and Naganadel, as well as the bans of Magearna and Shadow Tag.

The most commonly used types were Water (14.44%), Psychic (13.33%), Steel (12.22%), and Flying (10%). The same wide distribution of types was seen in this tournament, as compared to MPL4, and the overall usage was mostly comparable between the two tournaments.

While the USUM metagame wasn't completely "settled" during MWP, due to the release of new games and move tutors (Defog), it wasn't such a huge change to the meta where big differences could be seen. I would say the major difference was in the usage of Steel, in which many people in MWP were trying out Stakataka teams.

MPL3

This is the meat of the discussion, MPL3 vs. MPL4. MPL3 had a total of 140 SM games played, with 280 teams used. As I said before, I won't be splitting up this discussion into pre- and post-Mega Medicham ban.

The most commonly used types in MPL3 were Psychic (13.57%), Water (12.86%), Fairy (11.43%), and Flying (11.07%). Steel closely trailed behind at 9.29% usage.

Of these types, Psychic had the highest win rate of 60.53%, followed by Steel (53.85%), and Fairy (53.13%). Water and Flying both had (terribly) negative win rates of 41.67% and 38.71%, respectively.

While the usage of the most commonly used types were comparable between MPL3 and MPL4, there was still a notable drop-off in the usage of Steel, likely attributed to losing Magearna and the upcoming surge of Water. Looking more broadly, however, there was also a drop-off in the usage of Ground, Bug, and Poison when comparing MPL3 to MPL4, as well as a slight rise in the usage of Dragon and Electric, and a large rise in the usage of Normal. These differences, in my opinion, are in a big part attributed to the releases of new mega stones, with the exception of Electric, which did not gain or lose much between the two tournaments. Going off of memory, I believe the biggest change in the metagame is the overall shift from offense to defensive teams vs. breakers. The popularity of balance Water, Flying, and Normal rose significantly since MPL3, and the usage of HO builds like Psychic have been seeing much less usage as of late. I'm sure there are a million differences to be seen when comparing actual replays, so I highly suggest looking back at the old replays thread and comparing it to the most recent one.

ORAS

Before I get into it, ORAS usage stats should (hopefully) be interesting as there were three bans in ORAS Monotype following MPL3: Hoopa-U, Baton Pass, and Shadow Tag. One would think that these three bans would impact the usage of Psychic and/or its win rate when comparing MPL4 to MPL3.

Within MPL4, there were 88 ORAS games played, 176 teams used.

The most used types were Water (19.89%), Psychic (18.18%), and Flying (11.93%). All other types were used in <10% of games played (aka used <17 times).

Of these three types, Water had the highest win rate of 54.29% followed by Flying at 52.38%. Psychic had a negative win rate of 46.88%.
Notably, however, I would like to point out that Dragon had a 73.33% win rate, and was used in 8.52% of games. This is likely attributed due to its favorable matchup against Water, the infrequency of Fairy (as compared to SM), and likely having a favorable matchup vs. Psychic due to the more common usage of Hydreigon.

In MPL3, there were 61 ORAS games played, 122 teams used. Although there were 2 ORAS slots in both of these tours, MPL4 had the multigen slot which attributed to much more ORAS games played.

The only two types were used in >10% of games played, those being Psychic (17.21%) and Water (14.75%). There was a much wider distribution of types played in ORAS in MPL3 as compared to MPL4. Therefore, going beyond 10%, the next most frequently used types were Normal (9.84%), Flying (9.84%), and Fighting (9.02%).

Of these five types, Flying had the highest win rate of 66.67%, followed by Normal (58.33%), Fighting (54.54%), and Water (50%). Most notably, Psychic had a negative win rate of 42.86%. Without looking at the actual replays from this tour, I would say that the low win rate of Psychic could be attributed to the extent that players went in order to overcome Psychic, purposely building teams that specifically target that matchup due to its overwhelming presence in the metagame at the time.

You can also see a higher usage of Bug in MPL3 than in MPL4 (6.56% vs. 3.41%). However, for both tournaments, Dark had nearly no usage, even as a Psychic counter due to its lack of Mega Sableye and inability to effectively deal with Mega Medicham. Similarly, Ghost had no usage at all as it has too many bad matchups to compensate for its effectiveness against Psychic, even without Hoopa-U.

While the overall usage of individual types didn't really change that much between the two tournaments, I can say it's safe to assume that team composition for most types shifted in this tournament as the need to directly counter Psychic lessened, giving more flexibility in team building without having to worry about Hoopa-U or Shadow Tag.

BW

Within this tournament, there were 56 BW games played, meaning 112 teams used.
The most used types were Fighting (14.29%), Psychic (13.39%), Steel (13.39%), Dragon (11.61%), and Water (11.61%).
Of these 5 types, Water had the highest win rate at 61.54%, followed closely by Psychic (60%) and Fighting (56.25%). Dragon and Steel won <50% of the times they were used (46.15% and 46.67%, respectively).

Comparatively, MPL3 had 60 BW games played, 120 teams used.
The most used types within MPL3 were Dragon (15%), Fighting (14.17%), Water (13.33%), Psychic (11.67%), and Steel (10.83%).
Of these types, Steel had the highest win rate (69.23%), followed by Dragon (55.55%) and Water (50%). Fighting and Psychic both had negative win rates, at 47.06% and 35.71%, respectively.

The usage stats between these two tournaments is relatively the same, as would be expected for a generation of Monotype that hasn't had any changes between tournaments, and really isn't played frequently. However, there is a discrepancy in the win rates between the two tournaments, with Steel having a very high win rate and Psychic having an abysmally low win rate. This could likely be attributed by individual matchups / predicting what the opponent is using accurately. However, that's beyond the scope of how much digging I'm willing to do.

As a further update, I have compiled the usage stats for MWP2 (realized I never posted these) and Monotype WCoP (I didn't do type wins for WCoP because I cba). I'm also only speaking about SM in this post because I'm an old man without energy.

MWP2 (link here)
In MWP2, there was a total of 92 games played of SM Monotype. This tournament saw more broad usage of types than in any previous Monotype tour, with no individual type being used in >15% of games. The three most used types were Fairy (14.67%), Water (12.50%), and Steel (11.41%). There was a pretty even distribution of all other types, with the exception of Fighting, Fire, Ghost, Grass, Ice, and Rock, which is unsurprising with the exception of Grass, which saw a good amount of use in Monotype WCoP.

Of the types used more than 8% of the time, Steel had the highest win rate at 66.67%, followed closely by Water at 65.22%. Notably, Poison had a poor showing of a meager 43.75% win rate as well as Fairy, which barely hovered above the 50% threshold at 51.85%.

Monotype WCoP (link here)
There was a total of 87 SM Monotype games played in Monotype WCoP. As with MWP2, there was a pretty decently spread usage among all the types, including no type being used in >15% of games once again. While Water gained the lead as the most used type at 14.37%, both Fairy and Steel dropped to below 10% usage, with the next two most used types being Psychic (10.92%) and Electric (10.34%). With the exception of the noted drop in usage of Fairy and Steel, the majority of other types' usage remained consistent with what was seen in MWP2.

I'll add on BLT3 later probably.

 

[OnlyaPuppet]

Mega-Banette Unranked to A. Seen as underrated because of its acclaimed 4 slot syndrome. Which my response to that is that Mega-Banette has everything that it could ever need. The proposed set looking something like this...
Magic Coat. Not only is it able to catch most opponents off guard reversing hazards or status conditions to beat out tank Pokemon like Porygon-2, Torkoal using Yawn/Stealth rocks among other Pokemon. If the Pokemon decides to use an attack for a read Mega-Banette can beat it out with its second essential move
Taunt. A replacement of magic coat, while it doesn't succeed in reflecting back hazards and status back at the opponents. Taunt is useful because where magic coat Doesn't beat out moves such as recover, roost and such. Taunt has the ability to cripple all status moves, and with prankster it is bond to go first! Also giving priority and importance to Knock off where it was seen as maybe not as important before.
Destiny bond. This move helps let Mega-Banette take down at least 1 Pokemon while still letting it get out a few moves for chip. This move can pressure out a opposing Pokemon that is needed to help beat ghost and usually vital towards winning the game, and with that alone Mega-Banette is more than useful however It also helps in a few other ways, with a few moves to choose from to help along the way
Pursuit. Basically only used in order to get rid of ditto which sometimes with a Hyper Offensive team becomes necessary, Mega-Banette proving that it can adapt towards the style of the team.
Shadow Claw. To help give your opponents a hard time with Mega-Banette's base attack of 165, all the while having a chance to crit with shadow claws base power of 70, Paired up with this next move and well you got yourself a killing machine.
Shadow Sneak. Useful to finish off the opponent and help beat out a mirror match, helping beat Pokemon like Blacephalon, and Gengar both very viable threats to Mirror match Ghost. Shadow Sneak also helps to revenge kill Pokemon that are low on hp thanks to its +1 priority.
Knock Off. Best used against Pokemon With eviolite such as Chansey, or Pokemon with a Choice item, whatever the Item this move has its uses to help give you the upper hand.

These next moves are more suggestions, simply some idea's to put out there

Sunny Day. Used to help out Blacephalon set up and even help out against some Mu's like sand ground, Ice helping beat out weather with its priority moves.
Grudge. Best paired with Blacephalon or a Pokemon that has Trick Room and requires a turn to set up. Grudge helps force out choice'd Pokemon allowing Blacephalon, Hoopa, and such.
Trick Room. For obvious reasons this can help Marowak sweep the opposing team and beat out slower Pokemon keeping Destiny Bond up
Gunk Shot. This move can be paired up with Trick room to bring devastation to any fairy team once Klefki is gone, especially since the usage of Mimikyu has gone done because of Ghost's lack of usage in Tournament, On the other hand it has a chance to poison the opponent Helping only furthermore.

Replays. Ghost=https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-909199887, https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-908615616
Fire=https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-909202907, https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-908002989
Flying=https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-909194362, https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-908733409
Rock=https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-908747105, https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-906908766
Normal=https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-908741862
Ground=https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-908741679, https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-908735235
Dragon=https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-908621431, https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-917109663
Bug=https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-908618764, https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-908073638
Fairy=https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-908611523, https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-907932981, https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-907634567, https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-906975434
Poison=https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-918920595
Grass=https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-908609384
Water=https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-908598846
Dark=https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-908076981, https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-906972689
Electric=https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-908069063
Steel=https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-908013957
Psychic=https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-908001227

Ps By no means do I intend to argue with those who are Immature, Please be considerate when Replying. I would also like to apologize for my previous actions

 

[GoldenTorkoal]

I have not played Monotype for a while and i would like to hear your opinions on the Armaldo-Forretress choice for Bug teams. I think i read Chaitanya talking about Forretress being the best choice right now, but could not get the reasoning behind that.

I'd like to know yor thoughts on this. Thank you!

 

[Ronman5]

I have not played Monotype for a while and i would like to hear your opinions on the Armaldo-Forretress choice for Bug teams. I think i read Chaitanya talking about Forretress being the best choice right now, but could not get the reasoning behind that.

I'd like to know yor thoughts on this. Thank you!

As someone whos played for years it morely depends. Armaldo grants you a mon who is neutral to fire and flying.... while also able to do damage to both fire and flying. while Forretress is straight up bulky for a half stall half setup kind of role.

I would say personally Armaldo is the best choice of the two cause it can handle checks and switch ins. You can fake out some taunting mons on flying/fire and use a damaging stone edge that deals great damage to said mon (unless its neutrally effective)

Forre is more useless when taunted and cant do jackshit (this is coming from me who loves custap explosion fore). In this current metagame, Armaldo (since this is gen 7 we are talking about)

 

[Sabella]

As someone whos played for years it morely depends. Armaldo grants you a mon who is neutral to fire and flying.... while also able to do damage to both fire and flying. while Forretress is straight up bulky for a half stall half setup kind of role.

I would say personally Armaldo is the best choice of the two cause it can handle checks and switch ins. You can fake out some taunting mons on flying/fire and use a damaging stone edge that deals great damage to said mon (unless its neutrally effective)

Forre is more useless when taunted and cant do jackshit (this is coming from me who loves custap explosion fore). In this current metagame, Armaldo (since this is gen 7 we are talking about)

i dont think you are giving fore nearly enough credit lol. With access to volt switch which id imagine it should always be running rapid spin spikes and w/e filler last you want it becomes a bulky pivot with the ability to set up hazards or bring one of bugs breakers (Mega-Pinsir/Volcarona/Mega-Herascross/Banded Scizor you get the point). It doesnt have the resists armaldo has but it does have a solid ability in sturdy which basically guarentees a spin with rocks off. While sadly both are pretty terrible spinners they are all bug has and I think both have their merits depending how your team is constructed.

 

[Ronman5]

i dont think you are giving fore nearly enough credit lol. With access to volt switch which id imagine it should always be running rapid spin spikes and w/e filler last you want it becomes a bulky pivot with the ability to set up hazards or bring one of bugs breakers (Mega-Pinsir/Volcarona/Mega-Herascross/Banded Scizor you get the point). It doesnt have the resists armaldo has but it does have a solid ability in sturdy which basically guarentees a spin with rocks off. While sadly both are pretty terrible spinners they are all bug has and I think both have their merits depending how your team is constructed.

Ah yes right I keep forgetting Volt switch is a thing (Sorry still an explosion advocate lol)

yeah they both have different.. but nearly samey abilities. however sturdy like you listed above doesn't exactly help you if your opponents already has rock/spikes up on a fore.

that said they both provide similar roles and its up to team composition to see which one fits better... I just personally feel more teams would prefer Armaldo over Forre but its up to personal preference and which one works better with your teamsetup

 

[Moosical]

As a further update, I have compiled the usage stats for MWP2 (realized I never posted these) and Monotype WCoP (I didn't do type wins for WCoP because I cba). I'm also only speaking about SM in this post because I'm an old man without energy.

MWP2 (link here)
In MWP2, there was a total of 92 games played of SM Monotype. This tournament saw more broad usage of types than in any previous Monotype tour, with no individual type being used in >15% of games. The three most used types were Fairy (14.67%), Water (12.50%), and Steel (11.41%). There was a pretty even distribution of all other types, with the exception of Fighting, Fire, Ghost, Grass, Ice, and Rock, which is unsurprising with the exception of Grass, which saw a good amount of use in Monotype WCoP.

Of the types used more than 8% of the time, Steel had the highest win rate at 66.67%, followed closely by Water at 65.22%. Notably, Poison had a poor showing of a meager 43.75% win rate as well as Fairy, which barely hovered above the 50% threshold at 51.85%.

Monotype WCoP (link here)
There was a total of 87 SM Monotype games played in Monotype WCoP. As with MWP2, there was a pretty decently spread usage among all the types, including no type being used in >15% of games once again. While Water gained the lead as the most used type at 14.37%, both Fairy and Steel dropped to below 10% usage, with the next two most used types being Psychic (10.92%) and Electric (10.34%). With the exception of the noted drop in usage of Fairy and Steel, the majority of other types' usage remained consistent with what was seen in MWP2.

I'll add on BLT3 later probably.

I lied about adding BLT3.

Now that MPL5 is done, here's a quick summary of the usage stats:

In total, 155 games played of SM Monotype. This tournament had a extremely even spread of types, much more so than any previous tournament this generation. The only types used >10% of the time were Psychic (10.32%), Fairy (10.97%), and Flying (12.26%). Decently similar to Mono WCoP, although this should be expected given the tours were so close in timing to eachother. The only notable difference is the drop off in Water usage.

The link for the usage stats can be found here. Check out the link for the ORAS and BW type usage as well! I'll be putting together a comparison between all SM tours at some point soon(tm).

 

[Nailec]

To complement the previous post from torkool, I made another spreadsheet with detailed usage for each pokemon.

Biggest winners since MWP and World Cup are Landorus-Therian, Magnezone, Dragonite, Ferrothorn and Celebi while biggest losers include Mantine, Crobat, Muk-Alola, Keldeo or Jirachi.

I think these stats definitely correlates with how viable pokemons are for their types in the current metagame and can back up some of the current VR nominations like Celebi rising in both grass and psychic or Mantine dropping in water.

Notes on the spreadsheet

• Unrevealed megas are counted as their base form, which explains why Charizard has some usage for example.
• The "Raw Usage" page stats should be read as "12,66% of the teams used during MPL were flying teams with Celesteela" and "21,75% of the teams featured a Celesteela". The "Types Usage" page shows the usage of each pokemons within teams of their types.
• The most perceptive will notice that I only have 154 games compared to torkool's 155, it's because one replay was not saved.

Edit 1: added Mono WCop and MWP spreadsheets

I may edit this post and/or the spreadsheets with BW and ORAS later this week.
Edit 2: done

 

[Moosical]

As per my previous post, here's a dirty summary of the type usage in major Monotype team tournaments over time throughout Generation 7 (including MPL, MWP, MWCOP).

Each spoiler below is a graph that shows the percent usage of the type in the individual tournament. MPL3 was divided into parts 1 and 2, which represents the usage before and after Mega Medicham was banned, which occurred at the halfway point of the tour (71 SM battles before ban, 69 SM battles after ban). The graphs have the same upper bounds so that they are easily comparable.

Each spoiler also contains a brief explanation/discussion from myself, if applicable.

Overall

This graph is the least useful since it's so hard to interpret, but still a bit fun to look at. As you can see, Water was heavily the most used type throughout the entire generation, very consistently staying at the top of the chart for essentially every tournament. I'll comment on each individual type in each of their spoilers.

	MPL3 P1	MPL3 P2	MWP1	MPL4	MWP2	MWCOP	MPL5
Bug	5.63​	6.52​	6.67​	1.36​	2.72​	1.72​	0​
Dark	3.52​	5.07​	6.67​	6.46​	9.78​	9.2​	7.42​
Dragon	3.52​	5.8​	3.89​	5.78​	4.35​	6.9​	9.03​
Electric	2.82​	2.17​	3.33​	6.12​	8.15​	10.34​	9.03​
Fairy	9.15​	13.77​	6.67​	9.18​	14.67​	7.47​	10.97​
Fighting	0​	0​	1.11​	1.36​	0​	0.57​	0​
Fire	1.41​	2.17​	0​	0​	0​	0.57​	1.29​
Flying	13.38​	8.7​	10​	9.86​	8.7​	8.62​	12.26​
Ghost	3.52​	0​	0.56​	0.68​	0​	0​	0.65​
Grass	0​	2.17​	1.67​	1.36​	1.09​	4.6​	6.13​
Ground	8.45​	5.8​	3.89​	2.38​	5.98​	3.45​	6.77​
Ice	0.7​	0​	0​	0.34​	0.54​	0​	0.32​
Normal	2.11​	5.07​	8.89​	9.86​	3.26​	2.87​	2.26​
Poison	7.75​	9.42​	6.67​	6.12​	8.7​	9.2​	4.19​
Psychic	20.42​	6.52​	13.33​	13.61​	7.61​	10.92​	10.32​
Rock	0​	0​	0​	1.36​	0.54​	0​	0​
Steel	7.04​	11.59​	12.22​	7.48​	11.41​	9.2​	9.68​
Water	10.56​	15.22​	14.44​	16.67​	12.5​	14.37​	9.68​

Bug

Bug started out decent in the early generation, coming off of the end of ORAS. Not too much to say here, halfway through the generation, it died completely, leading up to no usage at all in MPL5.

Dark

Dark really came into its own this generation. It started out fairly uncommon, likely due to a multitude of things. First off, coming from ORAS in which it was a considerably weaker type, and the quickban of Hoopa-U in Gen7, people likely didn't see much use of the type. Additionally, MPL3 P1 still had Mega Medicham, which likely put the fear in Dark users, even with access to Mega Sableye. Furthermore, Fairy was an extremely strong type, especially as Magearna was still legal, although Mega Diancie was not yet released during MPL3. It stayed at middling usage until MWP2, when the Curse Alolan Muk set really came into popularity, which proved that it was a strong type, even against theoretically unfavorable matchups like Fairy.

Dragon

Like Dark, Dragon really struggled the first half of the generation, again due to the threat of common Fairy-types. It saw middling usage, but recently became much more used, which may be in response to the raised popularity of Flying and the continued popularity of Water.

Electric

Electric really benefited a ton in the switch from ORAS to SM. It started out extremely unpopular, which may be due to how bad it was in ORAS - people had not yet realized its potential. Additionally, Poison was a fairly popular type in early SM, of which Electric has a very hard time to deal with between Mega Venusaur and Alolan Muk. People had not yet started using Aloraichium Z to take down the threat of Alolan Muk, which came into prominence during MPL4. Furthermore, Zeraora was released just before MWP2, which strengthens its increased usage even more, aiding the type with a strong and reliable physical attacker that the type had previously lacked.

Fairy

I think the Fairy usage is one of the most jarring graphs of all 18. It bounced back and forth incredibly in usage throughout the generation, going from very popular, to only middling, then back to very popular. There has been a ton of variability in individual sets used on Fairy teams, although the team lineup has been fairly static. In MWP2, Mimikyu really came into prominence to combat the Psychic matchup along with the use of Substitute Tapu Bulu to aid with other matchups. I'd say it has maintained its position as one of the most reliable go-to types throughout the generation, even if it might not always have been used super commonly.

Fighting

Nothing to say here. Poor Fighting just doesn't have the tools to beat enough of the popular types consistently in order to have a place in tournament play.

Fire

As with Fighting, Fire also lacks the ability to beat the majority of the popular types consistently.

Flying

Flying has been a very consistently used type throughout the generation as its teams are highly customizable depending on what type matchups or archetypes you're expecting. It can often be seen as a generally safe type to pick, as it can often be used to outplay most matchups. Although individual Flying archetypes have come and gone in popularity through the generation, it's stayed at a consistent ~10% usage throughout the generation.

Ghost

Not much to say here. Ghost lacks the ability to perform consistently against the majority of the types, especially with the increased popularity in Dark this generation. It was used a fair amount in the first half of MPL3 to combat the huge usage of Psychic with Mega Medicham, but quickly dropped to nothing once it was banned.

Grass

Grass was a bit of a surprise this generation. Coming off of ORAS, it was terrible type and people did not see much use for it at all. However, people slowly came to realize how great of an anti-meta type it is, having a favorable matchup against popular types like Water, Fairy, and Electric. It only truly saw usage once people determined that Decidueye was actually a good Pokemon and could be used effectively to overcome a matchup previously seen as very bad, that being Psychic.

Ground

Ground started out strong in the beginning of the generation, being a fairly strong type in ORAS. However, its usage slowly declined as the meta settled due to it being an overall "meh" type, with many difficult matchups. There was a spike in MWP2 with the popularity of Curse Mega Steelix, giving it the ability to take on Fairy reasonably well. But overall, its difficulty with other popular types like Water really limit its usage.

Ice

As with many other types described, Ice lacks the tools to take on the majority of the metagame, thus leading to essentially no usage.

Normal

The Normal graph is a bit awkward. The type has essentially been the same for the past 2 generations, with subtle differences. It started out with essentially no usage, again probably due to the popularity of Mega Medicham. It slowly gained usage up through MPL4, especially given the popularity of the Encore Mega Lopunny set to take on types like Water and Poison more effectively. However, people came to their senses by MWP2 in realizing that it's really only mediocre with not a huge amount of favorable matchups. While some may see it as being consistent, it's not really as good as other consistent types like Water and Flying.

Poison

Poison is yet another winner of the switch from ORAS to SM, gaining many tools that give it a place in the metagame (ie, Toxapex and Alolan Muk). It has stayed at middling usage throughout the generation as a fairly consistent type, although it generally lacks customizability. It gained usage back in MWP2 with the advent of Curse Alolan Muk, though it dropped off again for MPL5.

Psychic

Psychic is another jarring graph. Look at that MPL3 pre-Mega Medicham ban. A whopping 20.42% usage, blowing every other usage throughout the generation for any type out of the water. I can't remember off the top of my head what other Megas were usable for part 2 of MPL3, but that could likely explain its drop off, as Psychic really likes to build teams around what Mega they're using. It has stayed at consistently high usage throughout the generation as it's yet another very customizable type with enough variety to overcome essentially any type. It did have a bit of a drop off during MWP2, again with the popularity of Curse Alolan Muk, but came back to a nice ~10% at the end of the generation.

Rock

Again just like the others, Rock lacks the tools to be a "good" type in the metagame, with too many unfortunate matchups.

Steel

Steel is yet another fairly stable graph, showing it as a pretty reliable type to use throughout the generation. It did start a little weak, again due to Mega Medicham, but came back strong right after it was banned. The popularity of Fairy really keeps Steel in the lime-light, as well as it's ability to take on most matchups fairly well similarly to Flying.

Water

Water has hands-down been the most popular type throughout the generation. A huge pool of great Pokemon allow it to very effectively take on almost any type, allowing players to effectively choose what matchups they want to target. I don't think there's any set discussion needed to explain the usage, although MPL4 saw the spike of Calm Mind + Z-move Keldeo, allowing the type to even more effectively take on troublesome matchups.

I'm excited to see where the metagame goes in generation 8. I am expecting a lot of shifts especially due to the removal of both Mega Evolution and Z-moves. Further, if we do truly follow the limited Pokedex metagame, this has huge implications on Monotype, in which team building for each type is extremely reliant on having a decently sized pool of Pokemon to choose from.

 

[Ronman5]

As per my previous post, here's a dirty summary of the type usage in major Monotype team tournaments over time throughout Generation 7 (including MPL, MWP, MWCOP).

Each spoiler below is a graph that shows the percent usage of the type in the individual tournament. MPL3 was divided into parts 1 and 2, which represents the usage before and after Mega Medicham was banned, which occurred at the halfway point of the tour (71 SM battles before ban, 69 SM battles after ban). The graphs have the same upper bounds so that they are easily comparable.

Each spoiler also contains a brief explanation/discussion from myself, if applicable.

Overall

This graph is the least useful since it's so hard to interpret, but still a bit fun to look at. As you can see, Water was heavily the most used type throughout the entire generation, very consistently staying at the top of the chart for essentially every tournament. I'll comment on each individual type in each of their spoilers.

	MPL3 P1	MPL3 P2	MWP1	MPL4	MWP2	MWCOP	MPL5
Bug	5.63​	6.52​	6.67​	1.36​	2.72​	1.72​	0​
Dark	3.52​	5.07​	6.67​	6.46​	9.78​	9.2​	7.42​
Dragon	3.52​	5.8​	3.89​	5.78​	4.35​	6.9​	9.03​
Electric	2.82​	2.17​	3.33​	6.12​	8.15​	10.34​	9.03​
Fairy	9.15​	13.77​	6.67​	9.18​	14.67​	7.47​	10.97​
Fighting	0​	0​	1.11​	1.36​	0​	0.57​	0​
Fire	1.41​	2.17​	0​	0​	0​	0.57​	1.29​
Flying	13.38​	8.7​	10​	9.86​	8.7​	8.62​	12.26​
Ghost	3.52​	0​	0.56​	0.68​	0​	0​	0.65​
Grass	0​	2.17​	1.67​	1.36​	1.09​	4.6​	6.13​
Ground	8.45​	5.8​	3.89​	2.38​	5.98​	3.45​	6.77​
Ice	0.7​	0​	0​	0.34​	0.54​	0​	0.32​
Normal	2.11​	5.07​	8.89​	9.86​	3.26​	2.87​	2.26​
Poison	7.75​	9.42​	6.67​	6.12​	8.7​	9.2​	4.19​
Psychic	20.42​	6.52​	13.33​	13.61​	7.61​	10.92​	10.32​
Rock	0​	0​	0​	1.36​	0.54​	0​	0​
Steel	7.04​	11.59​	12.22​	7.48​	11.41​	9.2​	9.68​
Water	10.56​	15.22​	14.44​	16.67​	12.5​	14.37​	9.68​

Bug

Bug started out decent in the early generation, coming off of the end of ORAS. Not too much to say here, halfway through the generation, it died completely, leading up to no usage at all in MPL5.

Dark

Dark really came into its own this generation. It started out fairly uncommon, likely due to a multitude of things. First off, coming from ORAS in which it was a considerably weaker type, and the quickban of Hoopa-U in Gen7, people likely didn't see much use of the type. Additionally, MPL3 P1 still had Mega Medicham, which likely put the fear in Dark users, even with access to Mega Sableye. Furthermore, Fairy was an extremely strong type, especially as Magearna was still legal, although Mega Diancie was not yet released during MPL3. It stayed at middling usage until MWP2, when the Curse Alolan Muk set really came into popularity, which proved that it was a strong type, even against theoretically unfavorable matchups like Fairy.

Dragon

Like Dark, Dragon really struggled the first half of the generation, again due to the threat of common Fairy-types. It saw middling usage, but recently became much more used, which may be in response to the raised popularity of Flying and the continued popularity of Water.

Electric

Electric really benefited a ton in the switch from ORAS to SM. It started out extremely unpopular, which may be due to how bad it was in ORAS - people had not yet realized its potential. Additionally, Poison was a fairly popular type in early SM, of which Electric has a very hard time to deal with between Mega Venusaur and Alolan Muk. People had not yet started using Aloraichium Z to take down the threat of Alolan Muk, which came into prominence during MPL4. Furthermore, Zeraora was released just before MWP2, which strengthens its increased usage even more, aiding the type with a strong and reliable physical attacker that the type had previously lacked.

Fairy

I think the Fairy usage is one of the most jarring graphs of all 18. It bounced back and forth incredibly in usage throughout the generation, going from very popular, to only middling, then back to very popular. There has been a ton of variability in individual sets used on Fairy teams, although the team lineup has been fairly static. In MWP2, Mimikyu really came into prominence to combat the Psychic matchup along with the use of Substitute Tapu Bulu to aid with other matchups. I'd say it has maintained its position as one of the most reliable go-to types throughout the generation, even if it might not always have been used super commonly.

Fighting

Nothing to say here. Poor Fighting just doesn't have the tools to beat enough of the popular types consistently in order to have a place in tournament play.

Fire

As with Fighting, Fire also lacks the ability to beat the majority of the popular types consistently.

Flying

Flying has been a very consistently used type throughout the generation as its teams are highly customizable depending on what type matchups or archetypes you're expecting. It can often be seen as a generally safe type to pick, as it can often be used to outplay most matchups. Although individual Flying archetypes have come and gone in popularity through the generation, it's stayed at a consistent ~10% usage throughout the generation.

Ghost

Not much to say here. Ghost lacks the ability to perform consistently against the majority of the types, especially with the increased popularity in Dark this generation. It was used a fair amount in the first half of MPL3 to combat the huge usage of Psychic with Mega Medicham, but quickly dropped to nothing once it was banned.

Grass

Grass was a bit of a surprise this generation. Coming off of ORAS, it was terrible type and people did not see much use for it at all. However, people slowly came to realize how great of an anti-meta type it is, having a favorable matchup against popular types like Water, Fairy, and Electric. It only truly saw usage once people determined that Decidueye was actually a good Pokemon and could be used effectively to overcome a matchup previously seen as very bad, that being Psychic.

Ground

Ground started out strong in the beginning of the generation, being a fairly strong type in ORAS. However, its usage slowly declined as the meta settled due to it being an overall "meh" type, with many difficult matchups. There was a spike in MWP2 with the popularity of Curse Mega Steelix, giving it the ability to take on Fairy reasonably well. But overall, its difficulty with other popular types like Water really limit its usage.

Ice

As with many other types described, Ice lacks the tools to take on the majority of the metagame, thus leading to essentially no usage.

Normal

The Normal graph is a bit awkward. The type has essentially been the same for the past 2 generations, with subtle differences. It started out with essentially no usage, again probably due to the popularity of Mega Medicham. It slowly gained usage up through MPL4, especially given the popularity of the Encore Mega Lopunny set to take on types like Water and Poison more effectively. However, people came to their senses by MWP2 in realizing that it's really only mediocre with not a huge amount of favorable matchups. While some may see it as being consistent, it's not really as good as other consistent types like Water and Flying.

Poison

Poison is yet another winner of the switch from ORAS to SM, gaining many tools that give it a place in the metagame (ie, Toxapex and Alolan Muk). It has stayed at middling usage throughout the generation as a fairly consistent type, although it generally lacks customizability. It gained usage back in MWP2 with the advent of Curse Alolan Muk, though it dropped off again for MPL5.

Psychic

Psychic is another jarring graph. Look at that MPL3 pre-Mega Medicham ban. A whopping 20.42% usage, blowing every other usage throughout the generation for any type out of the water. I can't remember off the top of my head what other Megas were usable for part 2 of MPL3, but that could likely explain its drop off, as Psychic really likes to build teams around what Mega they're using. It has stayed at consistently high usage throughout the generation as it's yet another very customizable type with enough variety to overcome essentially any type. It did have a bit of a drop off during MWP2, again with the popularity of Curse Alolan Muk, but came back to a nice ~10% at the end of the generation.

Rock

Again just like the others, Rock lacks the tools to be a "good" type in the metagame, with too many unfortunate matchups.

Steel

Steel is yet another fairly stable graph, showing it as a pretty reliable type to use throughout the generation. It did start a little weak, again due to Mega Medicham, but came back strong right after it was banned. The popularity of Fairy really keeps Steel in the lime-light, as well as it's ability to take on most matchups fairly well similarly to Flying.

Water

Water has hands-down been the most popular type throughout the generation. A huge pool of great Pokemon allow it to very effectively take on almost any type, allowing players to effectively choose what matchups they want to target. I don't think there's any set discussion needed to explain the usage, although MPL4 saw the spike of Calm Mind + Z-move Keldeo, allowing the type to even more effectively take on troublesome matchups.

I'm excited to see where the metagame goes in generation 8. I am expecting a lot of shifts especially due to the removal of both Mega Evolution and Z-moves. Further, if we do truly follow the limited Pokedex metagame, this has huge implications on Monotype, in which team building for each type is extremely reliant on having a decently sized pool of Pokemon to choose from.

This is a really nice retrospective piece... even if I'm sad the type I played for two whole generations has now basically died off as of MPL5.

Lets see where the chips fall for gen 8, cause gen 7 had a good run

 

[nomadderwhat]

I'm not really sure how to say this properly because I still don't know if I fully understand it, but I do want to throw it out there for someone else to say something more enlightening. I think there was a poll or something that was done a while ago to address this, but it bums me out to see this forum so starkly different this generation. Last gen we had 91 pages of posts in the original monotype thread, and then a whole new thread when the tiering philosophy was changed for another 70 pages. Personally, I'm fearful to post here because I feel like if I say something 200 lawyers will come out of the woodwork to try and dismantle idle chat. Less creativity, less mobility, less community, nothing to talk about? Some reasons the older threads probably had more traction was because we knew much less about the game. What to ban was always around. The ladder was really vibrant so we had high level games (for what it was back then) happening all the time to discuss and share replays. Now MWP and MPL statistics are on the same page....

Again I don't really get what changed, just feels much colder around here. When the room had 70 concurrent users daily it seemed like it was warmer than the 200+ we have now. I'd like a turn around for gen 8.

 

[Eien]

I'm not really sure how to say this properly because I still don't know if I fully understand it, but I do want to throw it out there for someone else to say something more enlightening. I think there was a poll or something that was done a while ago to address this, but it bums me out to see this forum so starkly different this generation. Last gen we had 91 pages of posts in the original monotype thread, and then a whole new thread when the tiering philosophy was changed for another 70 pages. Personally, I'm fearful to post here because I feel like if I say something 200 lawyers will come out of the woodwork to try and dismantle idle chat. Less creativity, less mobility, less community, nothing to talk about? Some reasons the older threads probably had more traction was because we knew much less about the game. What to ban was always around. The ladder was really vibrant so we had high level games (for what it was back then) happening all the time to discuss and share replays. Now MWP and MPL statistics are on the same page....

Again I don't really get what changed, just feels much colder around here. When the room had 70 concurrent users daily it seemed like it was warmer than the 200+ we have now. I'd like a turn around for gen 8.

There are a few reasons for this, and yes, you are absolutely correct this thread is much more barren.

First, let's all be honest and recognize Gen 6 tiering was absolutely disastrous until late ORAS. There was a lot to discuss and nobody was sure what could or would be done about it. That's completely different from SM, in which we tiered extremely fast to reach a stable point for Monotype. Unfortunately, that means we burned through a lot of discussion very early on. You'll notice we had a lot of posting in the early gen but ever since the council stopped quickbanning, there really has not been much to ban. There were a few big players, but they got individual suspect threads. If there were more things to suspect, we'd have more discussion. We don't have much to suspect, so we don't. That's how these metagame threads tend to go throughout the non-usage-based lower tiers.

The second the major difference between Gen 6 and Gen 7, which accounts for the vast majority of the posts you noted in the early thread, is that we have an entire forum now. Until very, very late ORAS, Monotype only had one main, dedicated thread. We also had none of the many resources we do now. Now that we have multiple locations in which Monotype is part of Smogon, that splits the discussion. We have people talking about Monotype in C&C, in RMT, in this very forum, and other places.

I agree it would be great if we had more to discuss, and certainly anyone can post their thoughts on the metagame. The nature of Monotype like other tiers is that between team tours, there isn't a lot of major metagame development. As a result, that development ends up being talked about in the scope of tournaments, which tends to get isolated to teams and hidden chats. If you have a topic you want to discuss about Monotype, feel free to bring it up!

 

[Ronman5]

There are a few reasons for this, and yes, you are absolutely correct this thread is much more barren.

First, let's all be honest and recognize Gen 6 tiering was absolutely disastrous until late ORAS. There was a lot to discuss and nobody was sure what could or would be done about it. That's completely different from SM, in which we tiered extremely fast to reach a stable point for Monotype. Unfortunately, that means we burned through a lot of discussion very early on. You'll notice we had a lot of posting in the early gen but ever since the council stopped quickbanning, there really has not been much to ban. There were a few big players, but they got individual suspect threads. If there were more things to suspect, we'd have more discussion. We don't have much to suspect, so we don't. That's how these metagame threads tend to go throughout the non-usage-based lower tiers.

The second the major difference between Gen 6 and Gen 7, which accounts for the vast majority of the posts you noted in the early thread, is that we have an entire forum now. Until very, very late ORAS, Monotype only had one main, dedicated thread. We also had none of the many resources we do now. Now that we have multiple locations in which Monotype is part of Smogon, that splits the discussion. We have people talking about Monotype in C&C, in RMT, in this very forum, and other places.

I agree it would be great if we had more to discuss, and certainly anyone can post their thoughts on the metagame. The nature of Monotype like other tiers is that between team tours, there isn't a lot of major metagame development. As a result, that development ends up being talked about in the scope of tournaments, which tends to get isolated to teams and hidden chats. If you have a topic you want to discuss about Monotype, feel free to bring it up!

I mean by early SM we had the metagame basically figured out, with the only changes in USUM being some moves, Z moves, Stak who has middling useage, Blacephalon whos used a lot on fire/ghost, and Zeraora who was the mostly positive thing.... and gives Electric its best physical mon to date

I mean within two to three weeks most of the things were banned except for like what Medicham mega and Magerna?

It feels harder to come up with sets when it feels the metagame is a lot more stagnant except just using different variants all the time (for example CM Keldeo when that was hyper popular.) In ORAS the metagame shifted a lot. I mean hell we even had a mon banned at the very end of the ORAS (or maybe a little while after USUM came out my memory is a bit foggy)

 

[Nailec]

Here's another spreadsheet about usages in monotype.

This time I take a closer look at the winrates of the different cores we saw in monotype this past year (MWP, WCup, BLT, MonoCup, MPL, MLT). 12 types has been consistently used with good succes, the bottom 6 being fighting, fire, ice, bug, rock, ghost.

The first thing to see is that flying has been the dominating type, especially thanks to Dragonite and Celesteela and despite teams with Mantine getting awful results. Both Mega-Aero and Mega-Charizard builds have been able to reach 75% win rate in tours. Next there is grass which with naturally good matchups against fairy, water and elec, managed to reach almost 70% wins for some variants. To complete the podium is a type that nearly disappeared in team tours but got good success in mlt: normal. The eviolite core especially proved that it was still very strong with 23 wins in 32 games.
Dragon comes next which, despite fairy being the most used type, gets around 60% win rate. Fairy and electric both do very well with positive results as well (and klefki fairy > non klefki fairy). Water and steel are tricky ones because they have different builds that either do very well or very badly. On water, Mega-Sharpedo has been the most successful while rain has been terrible. On steel, lucario builds where more rewarded than those with bisharp or jirachi. Ground saw some variety too with sand and sandless build, gastrodon or seismitoad as water immunity but no combination really made a big enough difference to become more than an average type. Dark and poison also only got average results this year.
Finally there's one type I was surprised to see so low and it's psychic. Considered one the most versatile and consistent type, it got extremely bad results like the core Mega-Gallade+Victini that only won 39% of its games.

I also compiled lead statistics and Tapu Koko was the most used, with mixed results. The most successful were Garchomp, Venusaur-Mega, Aerodactyl or Landorus-Therian, all leading to their team winning more than 60% of the time.

tl;dr

Types tier list:

Details on the spreadsheet

• U is for "Games used" and W is for "Games won"
• Rating is calculated using Wilson score, so that pokemons with high usage and good winrate would be rated higher than pokemons with low usage and higher winrate. I didn't compute ratings for 5 and 6 mons cores because of how little data there is.
• I wasn't quite happy with some megas that weren't revealed during battle but were obvious so I replaced all the following:
  • Charizard in flying (I didn't go for the guess between X and Y in fire teams)
  • Sharpedo in water
  • Pinsir in bug
  • Diancie in fairy
  • Scizor in steel
  • Lopunny in normal
  • Altaria in dragon
  • Venusaur in both grass and poison (unless someone used Sceptile-Mega next to it)
  • Sableye in ghost
  • Steelix in both ground and steel
  • Some might still be missing...
• It would be interesting to get a page per type but the data is rare and the sheet was originally made for OU so it didn't account for that
• There's a ton of other data I compute but couldn't fit in the sheet, like what a player uses more, what cores perform best against a given core or moves usage.

I hope you enjoyed this despite my poor artistic abilities to make this readable and if you have any question or request about tour stats (any tier) you can contact me on smogon, in the monotype room or on discord (Nailec#3343).

Edit: Added MLT Finals

 

[Ticken]

Nice stats Nailec, it must have taken a ton of time to compile all of this. I urge you to design this better, however, because it drowns the user with information and just looks really confusing. It's not so much about your "poor artistic abilities" more-so than you not putting the effort into making it easier to comprehend.

What decided the Rating which you used to order each Pokemon? I might have missed it but I don't see a mention of that stat. Another thing is why do you have blank rows at the bottom? That just makes the sheet look messy. What are the colors on the "Leads" sheet referring to? Koko's 65 and 33 have no column name so I need to think about what it is you're trying to get across. The column is short making a good header difficult but you can easily add a key to indicate. -- One note is could you do stats on each individual tour and then feed those into a master sheet as I did with the compiler? Seeing everything together is nice but it doesn't tell me much about trends or where particular cores succeeded/failed. Just a suggestion for next time.

 

[Nailec]

Nice stats Nailec, it must have taken a ton of time to compile all of this. I urge you to design this better, however, because it drowns the user with information and just looks really confusing. It's not so much about your "poor artistic abilities" more-so than you not putting the effort into making it easier to comprehend.

What decided the Rating which you used to order each Pokemon? I might have missed it but I don't see a mention of that stat. Another thing is why do you have blank rows at the bottom? That just makes the sheet look messy. What are the colors on the "Leads" sheet referring to? Koko's 65 and 33 have no column name so I need to think about what it is you're trying to get across. The column is short making a good header difficult but you can easily add a key to indicate. -- One note is could you do stats on each individual tour and then feed those into a master sheet as I did with the compiler? Seeing everything together is nice but it doesn't tell me much about trends or where particular cores succeeded/failed. Just a suggestion for next time.

Thanks a lot for your feedback ! I was really looking for improvements to make it readable so I took a look at your master that you made and copied some of its ideas. Unfortunately keys don't show up on published sheets so I had to put a few of the explanations in my smogon post about the headers of the sheet but here's the original sheet so they can be seen.

I'll explain a bit more the rating than i did in my previous because I think this is something you will be interested in for sorting players on the team tours compiler so that ephemeral players don't get ranked above monotype titans like 1 True Lycan or Eien. I was looking for a ranking method solely based on wins and matches played in 1 player vs 1 player games. ELO and Glicko were what I found mostly but they weren't computable from my input. Then I found that link that I posted in my previous post about Wilson score, this score is basically something that's commonly used to rank posts or video on websites so that the ones with both a lot of reactions and positive reactions are rated higher. Otherwise if you only rank them based on the positive reaction ratio you'd have some with only 1 reaction first and the ranking will be extremely unstable. In the end I just copied the excel formula in that link and it gave me the result I was expecting so I didn't search any further (although it's a customizable formula that allows you to reward more either wins or games).

Separating the ratings stats is not something I'm interested in, and for a few reasons. First it's already a 15 pages sheets so if I separate per tours it's going to get completely unmaintainable. Then I already did not compute ratings for everything that was used less than 10 times in the main sheets because it's too few data to really mean something, so having ratings for something like only the top 4 used types wasn't what I was looking for. I even added mono cup, mlt and blt in addition to the main team tours because there were too few games in the beginning. Finally, unlike usage, I don't think win rates are subject to trends when going as deep as comparing cores vs cores which was the motivation behind this, although I'm only showing a summary here with the overall performances of cores.

With this post also comes new features in the sheet, it's a detailed page of winrates for cores of every type so make sure to check it out. I also tried to rank all the types as I rated the cores and here's the result:

Ultimate ranking of all types in USUM monotype (highly controversial)

1.  Normal
2.  Grass
3.  Dragon
4.  Flying
5.  Steel
6.  Fairy
7.  Elec
8.  Fighting
9.  Ground
10. Water
11. Fire
12. Psychic
13. Dark
14. Poison
15. Ice
16. Ghost
17. Bug
18. Rock

For those of you following OU tours on smogon there is an analysis of cores performance to be released after Snake too. Otherwise I'll be back in gen 8 hopefully for more monotype metagame analysis !