Monotype Rate My NatDex Monotype Ground Team

[OzoneSpark]

So far, the team is successful enough that I made it to 143rd place on the ladder, but I would like some tips on how to improve it even more.

Edit: I *peaked* at 143rd place. I am now being forced to battle stall teams, so I only saved one replay. Stall teams are tasteless and make this game horrible.

Hippodown (Hippowdon) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Slack Off
- Whirlwind

My Rocks and Sand setter. I try to keep him alive until Excadrill dies, so I can restart the sand, and try to win weather wars. It's bulky, and can Whirlwind away set-up sweepers, as long as it survives a hit, or goes first (fat chance). The other issue is that EQ is its only offense, so I usually forfeit if I'm up against a Flying team with Hippowdon my only remaining Pokemon.

Gastrodon @ Leftovers
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic
- Recover
- Scald
- Earth Power

My main tank. This team is mostly HO, but I felt like adding a proper tank that can takes hits and use Toxic and Recover, or fish for burns with Scald.

Excadrill @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide

During Sand, this is my main sweeper, and my best answer to Ice teams. I tossed on Rapid Spin for hazard control. Sand Rush puts my speed above Choice Scarf levels, so I'm Banded instead.

Landorus (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Gravity
- Earth Power
- Sludge Wave
- Psychic

My best Special sweeper, with Gravity for handling Flying teams better. Life Orb plus Sheer Force is an OP combo. Also is an answer to Grass teams.

Garchomp @ Dragonium Z
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Fire Fang
- Poison Jab

Another Grass-neutral, Physical powerhouse. Rough Skin is basically its only ability, due to evasion clause, and is good for physical attackers. Devastating Drake is a potential nuking move for Rotom-Wash, Slowbro/Slowking, and basically any Stallmon that doesn't resist it, that the rest of the team can't handle.

Seismitoad @ Assault Vest
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Surf
- Earth Power
- Sludge Wave
- Grass Knot

Another special attacker, and the bulkier one, with Assault Vest. My best answer for Offense Water teams.

My only saved battle. The link might be dead though:
Mono Ground vs Mono Psychic

Weaknesses:
- Rain Water Teams
(once my Water Pokemon die, and I can't use sand anymore, the team is fully screwed, even Garchomp)
- High-Ladder Grass Teams
(maybe I should touch more grass)
- High-Ladder Hail Ice Teams
(like Rain teams, I'm screwed if they outwit me and win the weather war, unless their Excadrill counters are slower and without Slush Rush)

 

[Mada]

Hello, i will try to help you with your Ground team :)
I made a paste of it: https://pokepast.es/8962c934a42f05f9
The team looks good so i won't talk about every set, but I do think you can make some changes:
I think a SpDef spread is more valuable here but a physical defensive is still great, we can majorly think about adding Clear Smog>Toxic as this team kinda struggles against setup sweepers such as CM Tapu Fini and Belly Drum Azumarill.

This team has no Mega and this is kinda a waste, i think we can definetely make this Mega Chomp and this set is kinda weird so just change it to an SD setup sweeper with SD + Scale Shot + Earthquake + Fire Fang / Stone Edge

as we now can use a Z move, we can put that here and use Steelium Z which is incredbily strong and can be helpful against physical walls such as Mandibuzz or even Staraptor and Buzzwole. With the Z-Move we might use a Swords Dance set here as well, with again SD + Spin + STABs.

I like double immunity mons on Ground but i think it's a nichy choice and i don't really love AV Seismi so i was thinking to change this. A really cool mon that we can use can be Mamoswine, which is incredibly helfpul for Matchups such as Poison, Flying and Dragon. I like both Scarf and Band sets, we could even try AV but i think that Band is great here as it gives immediate power that you like and Speed control shouldn't be really an issue by having sand and setup sweepers + CB Ice Shard.

Other considerations you can make by seeing how this works are Eject Button on Hippowdon which allow you to set sand and quickly pivot on Excadrill; also i don't love Whirlwind cause with Ground you should have an offensive approach and shouldn't waste too much momentum, i do guess that it can be helpful in some situations but i would give Toxic a shot as it can help vs some annoying mons like Dragonite.
You can try Substitute + BU Lando-T over Lando-I eventually, but I do like Lando-I.

With the changes i suggested, the team would look like this: https://pokepast.es/b59b55cf309ab008
Hope this helps you and let me know if you have any questions!

 

[Omastar68]

I 2nd the SpD Gastro. It's the higher base stat, and everything(after revision) is more physically defensive than specially defensive(even if it's not bulky like Mamo it still has more def.)

As far as I know, Iron Head can be used over Poison Jab on Garchomp. That's assuming you don't go w. the revision suggestion(you should though.)

 

[Neko]

Hello, congrats on getting top 143 in the NatDex monotype ladder. Though AtraX Madara has given suggested changes (which are good, btw), I kinda want to modify the team under the premise of keeping Seismitoad as the Water-type immunity.

For the record though, Seismitoad isn't better than Gastrodon in a sense that it has very poor longevity and ability to wall, notably losing to setup sweepers like Z-Kommo-o and threats such as Greninja in the long run. However, its not all bad for the frog as its Ground's only hope of checking Azumarill, has access to Knock Off, and is in, by itself, an offensive threat too. Notably, it can also take a hit from Urshifu-R and Mega Swampert OHKO back [unlike Sluggie who just sits there...].

Frog

Seismitoad @ Leftovers / Assault Vest
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 112 HP / 168 Atk / 124 Def / 104 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Power Whip
- Earthquake
- Substitute / Poison Jab (If Assault Vest)
- Knock Off

This thing can be a real menace for Water and Ground teams if it gets a free turn, as Earthquake + Power Whip hits all Water-types fairly hard, and Substitute makes it hard to revenge-kill. 104 Speed EVs lets you outspeed and Substitute on Rotom-W as it attempts to burn you with Will-o-Wisp, and also lets you outspeed and remove Belly Drum Azumarill. The HP / Defense EVs ensure that Choice Band Urshifu-R, Mega Swampert, and Keldeo will 2HKO it; The Attack investment lets you OHKO Urshifu-R (after the defense drop), Mega Swampert, and deal above 75% to Azumarill. If you want to keep your Assault Vest, it turns Greninja's 3HKO on Ice Beam to a 4HKO, but Substitute is Imo better. Poison Jab lets it OHKO Tapu Bulu, if it SD's in front of Seismitoad though...

-> Btw, as we removed Gastrodon, we would take Madara's idea of replacing the second water immunity with Mamoswine. This is kinda notable too, as we need more counterplay against stuff like Hydreigon, Kyurem, and Kommo-o, which Ground can struggle with. However, I kinda want to point out that you can choose to use Nevermelt Ice over Choice Band, as the ability to swap moves on a mon such as it is very useful; You can use that to your advantage as most people get complacent once it has locked into a move. It uses the same moves such as his suggestion btw.

Your team is quite weak to Charizard-Y, so consider using Rock Slide over Psychic or Sludge Wave. Take note tho that Psychic can be desirable as its a way to offensively deal with Kommo-o, while Sludge Wave nails Tapu Bulu and makes Fairy teams really uncomfortable early game. Focus Blast is also an option for and but since Choice Band Excadrill 2HKOs both of these after Stealth Rock, this is less of a concern for you. Focus Blast does hit really hard though, which is something to take note of.

Choice Band is a fair option on Excadrill, as it allows it to do massive amounts of damage without the setup needed. Consider X-Scissor over Rock Slide or Rapid Spin though, as this allows you to deal with pesky switch-ins like Zarude and Slowbro which don't let you click Earthquake in the Dark / Psychic matchup.

-> Mega Garchomp is super strong for Ground teams, due to its ability to setup to sweep / clean late-game because Scale Shot is busted. Fire Fang provides it enough reliable coverage to take on threats such as Tapu Bulu and Corviknight, and Swords Dance is Swords Dance.

Minor EV changes to make it a nice mixed tank. It can now take an Ice Beam from Expert Belt Greninja and can phaze out Clangorous Soul Blaze Kommo-o (if it doesn't Taunt you; this makes Gastrodon's Clear Smog quite good tbh).

The team after the edits:


I hope you enjoy NatDex Mono OzoneSpark
Also, try out both of our teams, owo

 

[Giyu]

I 2nd the SpD Gastro. It's the higher base stat, and everything(after revision) is more physically defensive than specially defensive(even if it's not bulky like Mamo it still has more def.)

As far as I know, Iron Head can be used over Poison Jab on Garchomp. That's assuming you don't go w. the revision suggestion(you should though.)

I just wanted to comment, using Gastrodon as a Specially Defensive wall is never really because it's stat is higher than the Physical Defense. Gastrodon is actually really flexible in both and you can swap between them depending on what Water-type Pokemon (and others of course) you want to check better. Defensive handles Urshifu-RS a lot better than Specially Defensive, and Specially Defensive handles Kingdra. Mega Garchomp never really needs Iron Head or Poison Jab because of it's monstrosity of an attack stat, after a Swords Dance; an Earthquake in sand (Sand Force) basically one shots every Fairy-type in the tier except Togekiss. Then again, you also have a Sand Force boosted Stone Edge.

 

[Omastar68]

Sorry, I'm a sucker for base stats lol.

I'll often use a nature for the highest stat if it's significant, but put EVs elsewhere. Impish 252 Atk mega aggron used to be an example. There was modest 252 Def(or so) Clefable, etc.