Disclaimer: This team is certainly not the most viable and Golisopod is quite hard to work around in Monotype. I did my best to build the team around making Golisopod shine.
I wanted to build a team around Golisopod, I was always intrigued with Golisopod since SuMo release and have really not gave it the time of day as it has been seen as not viable in the majority of tiers I played. This monster hits hard and I wanted to see if I can have success with it.
After adding Golisopod to the team I decided to go with a hyper offence team and wanted a hazard stack suicide lead that can also keep hazards off the field.
With both Golisopod and Forretress I wanted an offensive special attacker that can break Pokemon that Golisopod struggles with. Having access to Quiver Dance and a Z-move made this an easy choice for my team.
Something I was lacking on my team after the core three were added was a set up physical sweeper. Mega Pinsir having the ability to come in on walls and quickly turn them into set up fodder is great, plus it gives me the speed on the team that Golisopod lacks.
I wanted extra special coverage as my team was looking weak to Water types and although this Pokemon does not take hits with a Choice Scarf it out-speeds non scarf variants of Greninja and speed ties with Choice Scarf Keldeo giving this team a better chance to not get swept. Access to fourth move scarf also allows it to support the other sweepers on the team.
Lastly on the team I wanted a bulkier Pokemon that can take a hit from Pokemon like Dragonite, Excadrill, Sharpedo and Terrakion.
Set Explanation
Golisopod @ Choice Band
Ability: Emergency Exit
EVs: 172 HP / 252 Atk / 84 Spe
Adamant Nature
- First Impression
- Liquidation
- Leech Life
- Sucker Punch / Aqua Jet
Golisopod. Choice Band. Bring them all.
This Pokemon is meant to come in and put a dent in a Pokemon. Having a +2 priority move that deals 90 damage is amazing, only issue is that you have to switch out afterwards which is generally easier said than done on a hyper offence team. The great thing about First Impressions is if you are against a team in which first impression is super effective or neutral and you have more sacks than this team you are able to spam this move and sack just so you end up with the 1-0 victory assuming they all die to First Impression.
Liquidation is also a move Golisopod can just spam vs teams with walls that are neutral to water moves as it usually forces them into recover and giving you the chance of the defense drop.
Leech Life is the main STAB move going against teams that are neutral and cant deal super effective damage to hurt Golisopod as you can just recover all damage done to you while hurting your opponent.
For my set I went with Sucker Punch as it helps vs Ghost which was common with Marshadow running around whilst I was laddering with this team. Aqua Jet is also very useful as it compensates for the lack of speed Golisopod has.
Choice Band was used to deal maximum damage... Although Life Orb on this Pokemon would be so much better if it didn't get Emergency Exit as its ability.
This leads me to the ability, Emergency Exit. We all can tell from the start of Sun and Moon until now that Emergency Exit is definitely not a good ability. There is a limited way to make it work for your team and I tried to make it work. With the use of hyper offence on this team being able to calculate when Golisopod's ability will activate is very beneficial in keeping momentum. If you are at 60% will Golisopod and you know that an attack will do around 10/20% to it if you switch it in then it gives you a free switch to a different Pokemon that can pressure the opposing Pokemon. Just to clarify this ability is awful but this is the best way to gain momentum out of it.
Forretress @ Red Card
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
- Gyro Ball / Volt Switch
- Spikes
Suicide lead Forrestress
Forretress's job on the team is to get up hazards, keep out enemy hazards and die. The use of Sturdy and Red Card allows me to get up hazards when the opponent attacks me which is usually the designated lead with spin/defog.
Stealth Rock and Spikes pressure the opposition vs the rest of my hyper offensive team. Rapid Spin is very important as my team gets destroyed by opposing hazards. I personally use Gyro Ball over Volt Switch as this is a suicide lead I try to get off as much damage as possible before dying.
Volcarona @ Psychium Z
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Fire Blast
- Psychic
- Hidden Power [Ground] / Bug Buzz / Giga Drain
Set up Sweeper Volcarona
Volcarona can set up and sweep Poison, Steel and Fire easily with this set as well as putting a dent into most of the meta. Quiver Dance giving it +1 Spa, +1 SpD and +1 Spe allowing it out-speed a lot of scarfs in the meta and take special hits as well as hitting hard. Having Fire Blast on this set over Fiery Dance allows it to hit harder without extensive set up, as its only STAB move on the set it is important it hits everything hard.
Psychic was only put on the set to lure Toxapex and sweep poison, it is a pretty good move to have during a meta where Marshadow has not been banned. With Psychium Z it will hit neutral Pokemon for a huge amount of damage.
Hidden Power Ground is used for Heatran, Marowak and other Rock/Steel types. Not too much to say about it and I have listed Bug Buzz/Giga Drain over it as options as you have Mega Pinsir with Close Combat and Buzzwole with Superpower to deal with Heatran.
Pinsir-Mega @ Pinsirite
Ability: Hyper Cutter
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Frustration
- Quick Attack
- Close Combat / Stone Edge
The Tupac of Pokemon
Mega Pinsir is in my opinion the best Pokemon the bug types have. This Pokemon can set up on 90% of walls in the meta and proceed to sweep entire teams. Swords Dance being the move used to set up with, this gives you the freedom to OHKO a lot of frail sweepers coming in that are faster than you after hazards with Quick Attack as well as breaking most walls with the combination of Close Combat and Frustration.
Having Close Combat helps you deal with Dark Types, Steel Types and Rock Types better but this team is ridiculously weak to flying so I noted Stone Edge as a suggested move if Close Combat is not working for you.
Galvantula @ Choice Scarf / Life Orb
Ability: Compound Eyes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sticky Web
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Thunder
- Energy Ball / Bug Buzz
Go Spidey Go.
Choice Scarf Galvantula is surprisingly good in the current meta, the ability to speed tie scarf Keldeo and outspeed +1 Mega Sharpedo and outspeeding Marshadow, Greninja and tying with scarf Terrakion. With the coverage it is good for outspeeding Scarf Garchomp, Scarf Landorus and +1 Gyarados.
Thunder with Compound Eyes gives it better accuracy so having the power with good accuracy allows you to just spam it vs neutral match ups. Hidden Power Ice is to cover the Ground Pokemon on flying teams and just Dragon Pokemon in general. Energy Ball being used to hit Water/Ground types hard and for extra power than Hidden Power Ice on Ground Pokemon, alternatively Bug Buzz can be used over Energy Ball for extra STAB.
Choice Scarf was used originally as a filler move just in case I need to out-speed Pokemon such as Scarf Greninja, Scarf Marshadow or any other Scarf Pokemon that outspeed my highest speed Pokemon. Then I discovered that a lot of people would lead with Taunt Pokemon such as Tapu Koko, Gallade, Coballion and others, with the ability to out speed them on the turn they use Taunt I was able to theoretically get a free turn for webs and then switch into Forretress for the rest of my hazards after Red Card activated.
Buzzwole @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rock Slide / Poison Jab
- Ice Punch
- Superpower
- Leech Life
Biggie the Bee
Scarf Buzzwole is a great late game sweeper as it hits very hard with both its STAB moves Leech Life and Superpower. The ability Beast Boost giving it an Attack raise after every kill it allows you to use Superpower without getting -1 Atk and gives you loads of power using coverage moves against super effective teams. Rock Slide has the ability to sweep fire teams and Ice Punch can sweep Ground, Dragon and Flying late game.
Replays
Golisopod @ Choice Band
Ability: Emergency Exit
EVs: 172 HP / 252 Atk / 84 Spe
Adamant Nature
- First Impression
- Liquidation
- Leech Life
- Sucker Punch / Aqua Jet
Golisopod. Choice Band. Bring them all.
This Pokemon is meant to come in and put a dent in a Pokemon. Having a +2 priority move that deals 90 damage is amazing, only issue is that you have to switch out afterwards which is generally easier said than done on a hyper offence team. The great thing about First Impressions is if you are against a team in which first impression is super effective or neutral and you have more sacks than this team you are able to spam this move and sack just so you end up with the 1-0 victory assuming they all die to First Impression.
Liquidation is also a move Golisopod can just spam vs teams with walls that are neutral to water moves as it usually forces them into recover and giving you the chance of the defense drop.
Leech Life is the main STAB move going against teams that are neutral and cant deal super effective damage to hurt Golisopod as you can just recover all damage done to you while hurting your opponent.
For my set I went with Sucker Punch as it helps vs Ghost which was common with Marshadow running around whilst I was laddering with this team. Aqua Jet is also very useful as it compensates for the lack of speed Golisopod has.
Choice Band was used to deal maximum damage... Although Life Orb on this Pokemon would be so much better if it didn't get Emergency Exit as its ability.
This leads me to the ability, Emergency Exit. We all can tell from the start of Sun and Moon until now that Emergency Exit is definitely not a good ability. There is a limited way to make it work for your team and I tried to make it work. With the use of hyper offence on this team being able to calculate when Golisopod's ability will activate is very beneficial in keeping momentum. If you are at 60% will Golisopod and you know that an attack will do around 10/20% to it if you switch it in then it gives you a free switch to a different Pokemon that can pressure the opposing Pokemon. Just to clarify this ability is awful but this is the best way to gain momentum out of it.
Forretress @ Red Card
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
- Gyro Ball / Volt Switch
- Spikes
Suicide lead Forrestress
Forretress's job on the team is to get up hazards, keep out enemy hazards and die. The use of Sturdy and Red Card allows me to get up hazards when the opponent attacks me which is usually the designated lead with spin/defog.
Stealth Rock and Spikes pressure the opposition vs the rest of my hyper offensive team. Rapid Spin is very important as my team gets destroyed by opposing hazards. I personally use Gyro Ball over Volt Switch as this is a suicide lead I try to get off as much damage as possible before dying.
Volcarona @ Psychium Z
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Fire Blast
- Psychic
- Hidden Power [Ground] / Bug Buzz / Giga Drain
Set up Sweeper Volcarona
Volcarona can set up and sweep Poison, Steel and Fire easily with this set as well as putting a dent into most of the meta. Quiver Dance giving it +1 Spa, +1 SpD and +1 Spe allowing it out-speed a lot of scarfs in the meta and take special hits as well as hitting hard. Having Fire Blast on this set over Fiery Dance allows it to hit harder without extensive set up, as its only STAB move on the set it is important it hits everything hard.
Psychic was only put on the set to lure Toxapex and sweep poison, it is a pretty good move to have during a meta where Marshadow has not been banned. With Psychium Z it will hit neutral Pokemon for a huge amount of damage.
Hidden Power Ground is used for Heatran, Marowak and other Rock/Steel types. Not too much to say about it and I have listed Bug Buzz/Giga Drain over it as options as you have Mega Pinsir with Close Combat and Buzzwole with Superpower to deal with Heatran.
Pinsir-Mega @ Pinsirite
Ability: Hyper Cutter
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Frustration
- Quick Attack
- Close Combat / Stone Edge
The Tupac of Pokemon
Mega Pinsir is in my opinion the best Pokemon the bug types have. This Pokemon can set up on 90% of walls in the meta and proceed to sweep entire teams. Swords Dance being the move used to set up with, this gives you the freedom to OHKO a lot of frail sweepers coming in that are faster than you after hazards with Quick Attack as well as breaking most walls with the combination of Close Combat and Frustration.
Having Close Combat helps you deal with Dark Types, Steel Types and Rock Types better but this team is ridiculously weak to flying so I noted Stone Edge as a suggested move if Close Combat is not working for you.
Galvantula @ Choice Scarf / Life Orb
Ability: Compound Eyes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sticky Web
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Thunder
- Energy Ball / Bug Buzz
Go Spidey Go.
Choice Scarf Galvantula is surprisingly good in the current meta, the ability to speed tie scarf Keldeo and outspeed +1 Mega Sharpedo and outspeeding Marshadow, Greninja and tying with scarf Terrakion. With the coverage it is good for outspeeding Scarf Garchomp, Scarf Landorus and +1 Gyarados.
Thunder with Compound Eyes gives it better accuracy so having the power with good accuracy allows you to just spam it vs neutral match ups. Hidden Power Ice is to cover the Ground Pokemon on flying teams and just Dragon Pokemon in general. Energy Ball being used to hit Water/Ground types hard and for extra power than Hidden Power Ice on Ground Pokemon, alternatively Bug Buzz can be used over Energy Ball for extra STAB.
Choice Scarf was used originally as a filler move just in case I need to out-speed Pokemon such as Scarf Greninja, Scarf Marshadow or any other Scarf Pokemon that outspeed my highest speed Pokemon. Then I discovered that a lot of people would lead with Taunt Pokemon such as Tapu Koko, Gallade, Coballion and others, with the ability to out speed them on the turn they use Taunt I was able to theoretically get a free turn for webs and then switch into Forretress for the rest of my hazards after Red Card activated.
Buzzwole @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rock Slide / Poison Jab
- Ice Punch
- Superpower
- Leech Life
Biggie the Bee
Scarf Buzzwole is a great late game sweeper as it hits very hard with both its STAB moves Leech Life and Superpower. The ability Beast Boost giving it an Attack raise after every kill it allows you to use Superpower without getting -1 Atk and gives you loads of power using coverage moves against super effective teams. Rock Slide has the ability to sweep fire teams and Ice Punch can sweep Ground, Dragon and Flying late game.
Water [BD Azumarill - Greninja - Mega Gyarados]
Fairy [Shift Gear Magearna - BD Azumarill]
Water [Toxapex - Greninja]
Ground [Bulky Offense]
Fire [OwO]
Electric [Manectric - Koko]
Fighting [Marshadow - Terrakion - Keldeo]
Normal [Mega Lopunny - PorygonZ - Staraptor - Ditto]
Threats
Flying - The only Pokemon breaking this easily is Galvantula and as it is choiced you need to make sure you get your predictions right in order to win.
Dragon - Scarf Latios out speeds and kills pretty much everything on my team outside of Galvantula which means unless you get a Thunder para you lose.
Electric - Why does Zapdos live every move ever?
Dark - For some reason this team seems to struggle killing an Alolan Muk and Mandibuzz core if played amazingly.
Thunder Wave - Thunder. Wave. Most of these Pokemon are frail and can't take a hit... Don't get them all Paralysed.
Do I list Marshadow here just because it beats the whole meta?
Team Import
Golisopod @ Choice Band
Ability: Emergency Exit
EVs: 172 HP / 252 Atk / 84 Spe
Adamant Nature
- First Impression
- Liquidation
- Leech Life
- Sucker Punch
Forretress @ Red Card
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
- Gyro Ball
- Spikes
Volcarona @ Psychium Z
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Fire Blast
- Psychic
- Hidden Power [Ground]
Pinsir-Mega @ Pinsirite
Ability: Hyper Cutter
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Frustration
- Quick Attack
- Close Combat
Galvantula @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Compound Eyes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sticky Web
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Thunder
- Energy Ball
Buzzwole @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rock Slide
- Ice Punch
- Superpower
- Leech Life
Ability: Emergency Exit
EVs: 172 HP / 252 Atk / 84 Spe
Adamant Nature
- First Impression
- Liquidation
- Leech Life
- Sucker Punch
Forretress @ Red Card
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
- Gyro Ball
- Spikes
Volcarona @ Psychium Z
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Fire Blast
- Psychic
- Hidden Power [Ground]
Pinsir-Mega @ Pinsirite
Ability: Hyper Cutter
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Frustration
- Quick Attack
- Close Combat
Galvantula @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Compound Eyes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sticky Web
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Thunder
- Energy Ball
Buzzwole @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rock Slide
- Ice Punch
- Superpower
- Leech Life
Notes: I will try to update if this peaks higher but I laddered at 5am and tilted.
Shout out to Jo' Z for being the reason I made this team.
Shout out to all monotype players that might help fill my ego with a like!
The Excadrill xTech JoltsOfEnergy terrors Clearly Moosical Seo. iLlama KGBanter Maskun529 Catalystic North
The Excadrill xTech JoltsOfEnergy terrors Clearly Moosical Seo. iLlama KGBanter Maskun529 Catalystic North
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