Hey guys, BiscuitSpartan here with another RMT, this time in the Monotype tier! I play normally just OU and NU on my BiscuitSpartan and BiscuitRoman accounts, but on my new alt KipUp, I've been messing around with monotype. It's such a fun tier to me, with the challenge of using one type to come up with checks and counters for the weakness of the chosen type seeming so interesting to me. I also haven't looked at anything, like, usage stats to see what types are used most, but I assumed bug isn't something used too often, and through 50 games between Kipup and BiscuitRoman I encountered bug maybe 4 times. Because I thought this typing can be considered underrated, I chose it to create my first Monotype team, and this team really is pretty good! The members are Mega Beedrill, Scizor, Galvantula, Vivillon, Volcarona, and Forretress. Any feedback is very much appreciated, and some good nicknames would be great too, as I haven't come up with any yet!
Forretress @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Rapid Spin
- Toxic
- Gyro Ball
- Stealth Rock
Forretress is the absolute defensive wall and the lead of choice for this team. He is the rapid spinner and rocker of the squad, and also is the only mon on the team with a status move on it, outside of the off chances Beedrill's Poison Jab gets a poison, Volcarona's Flame Body triggers, etc. There is a rather high amount of pressure on this mon, however, as there isn't much of a defensive presence away from this mon on the squad, and the team, being mono-bug, is rather weak to rocks. However, this is the defensive staple of the team. Another option is going with something less passive like Escavalier, but I feel as though Forretress does a great job here.
(I couldn't find a GIF for Volcarona, I cri)
Volcarona @ Leftovers
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 1 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 SpD
- Quiver Dance
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Fire Blast
- Giga Drain
Volcarona may be the most reliable mon the on the team, needing a single Quiver Dance to have a chance to sweep. Although Volcarona has a measly 166 defense with my spread on it, Flame body can come in clutch and weaken the physical attackers that would normally do a number on it. It's noteworthy to say there's no Bug-type STAB on my version of Volcarona, but Hidden Power ground is an answer to Poison types, Fire types, and Electric types, with Fire Blast being a very powerful STAB and Giga Drain allowing Volcarona to recover a decent amount of HP from whatever pokemon is in its way. With just one Quiver Dance up, Water types seldom even scare this monster away. A Giga Drain bops those things, leaving pretty much physical-attacking waters to scare Volcarona (which still sometimes isn't a problem with a Quiver Dance or two up). Volcarona has saved me many times, and even with Mega Beedrill on the team, it seems as though Volcarona is the mon that's sweeping games for me.
Vivillon-Ocean @ Focus Sash
Ability: Compound Eyes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sleep Powder
- Hurricane
- Bug Buzz
- Quiver Dance
The main reason I run Vivillon on this team is because it seems like no one really knows what it does because its in NU. In reality, getting a 98% accurate sleep powder up, using Quiver Dance once or twice, and proceeding to click Hurricane or Bug Buzz repeatedly makes this thing pretty strong. I appreciate its element of surprise. However, if I were to change this team, this may be the first mon I take off, due to its huge rocks weakness and uselessness in some matchups.
Galvantula @ Focus Sash
Ability: Compound Eyes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sticky Web
- Bug Buzz
- Volt Switch
- Thunder
Galvantula is our quick Electric type mon, and our sticky web setter. It's fun to not lead with this thing, because the momentum can be even midway through a game, and Galvantula can win a game by slowing switching-in mons down with a Sticky web. It has a Focus Sash (as Vivillon does) to lay down a Sticky Web or a huge hit (a 91% accurate Thunder with a 30% chance to paralyze), and is one of the team's answers to Water and Flying types.
Scizor @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Roost
- Bullet Punch
- Swords Dance
- Bug Bite
Scizor is yet another possible setup sweeper on this team. Swords Dance just adds to the power of Life Orb Technician hits, with Roost there to provide reliable recovery. Scizor has swept a couple of my more recent games after seeming to be a weak link in the beginning. An alternative to Life Orb offensive could be a SpDef or Def variant, or using Mega Scizor and taking Mega Beedrill off the team in favor of something else. However, I have yet to test that out. Scizor comes in clutch in a mono-flying or mono- dragon match, where it can possibly eat Dragonite's Lum Berry. Also, it is useful for Belly Drum mons, to eat their Sitrus Berries.
(No good GIF for Mega Beedrill either, surprisingly.)
Beedrill-Mega @ Beedrillite
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Poison Jab
- X-Scissor
-U-turn Drill Run
- Protect
The last mon on this team is the always hard-hitting Mega Beedrill. Adaptability turns this thing into a monster, and max speed allows Mega Beedrill to outspeed base 80 Choice Scarfed mons by one point, which can prove to be very useful. I find myself using Beedrill a lot as a U-Turn revenge killer, but its also very useful to sweep. Its big issue is in the fact that it is virtually useless against Steel types, which may force me to replace U-Turn with Drill Run.
Threats
Monotype threats to this team are pretty much Fire, Steel, and Flying, with Ghost Type teams with Will-O-Wispers sometimes being an issue. Volcarona more or less acts as a counter to almost anything, though, if it takes little damage on switch on and gets a Quiver Dance up. Additionally, if a Ghost team sets up rocks, they will stay up, because every mon on the team is a spinblocker, which is something I will probably need to fix for this team.
Other Ideas
While still using the Bug-Type, I've though about possibly using Accelgor and Forretress along with either Mega Scizor or Mega Pinsir (Or even sticking with Mega Beedrill) to come up with a more balanced, spike-stacking with stealth rocks team, as to weaken as many mons as possible before bringing in a hard-hitting Mega to end the game. Also, as previously stated, I may be forced to run a defensive Scizor, perhaps even with Defog.
This team is really good as of now, though I know it could use a few tune-ups. I consider myself a slightly above average player, and I've gone something like 35-5 and with this team, including 10-2 on my KipUp laddering alt. Again, any feedback and some nicknames would be welcomed with open arms! Also, I apologize to anyone who opened this when I very first posted it, I accidentally posted it when I was only two or three mons into the analysis! Thanks for reading, and I hope y'all like this team!
Here are a couple replays to show you the team in action:
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/monotype-395291996
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/monotype-395317112
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/monotype-395330626
-BiscuitSpartan/BiscuitRoman/KipUp
Forretress @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Rapid Spin
- Toxic
- Gyro Ball
- Stealth Rock
Forretress is the absolute defensive wall and the lead of choice for this team. He is the rapid spinner and rocker of the squad, and also is the only mon on the team with a status move on it, outside of the off chances Beedrill's Poison Jab gets a poison, Volcarona's Flame Body triggers, etc. There is a rather high amount of pressure on this mon, however, as there isn't much of a defensive presence away from this mon on the squad, and the team, being mono-bug, is rather weak to rocks. However, this is the defensive staple of the team. Another option is going with something less passive like Escavalier, but I feel as though Forretress does a great job here.
(I couldn't find a GIF for Volcarona, I cri)
Volcarona @ Leftovers
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 1 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 SpD
- Quiver Dance
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Fire Blast
- Giga Drain
Volcarona may be the most reliable mon the on the team, needing a single Quiver Dance to have a chance to sweep. Although Volcarona has a measly 166 defense with my spread on it, Flame body can come in clutch and weaken the physical attackers that would normally do a number on it. It's noteworthy to say there's no Bug-type STAB on my version of Volcarona, but Hidden Power ground is an answer to Poison types, Fire types, and Electric types, with Fire Blast being a very powerful STAB and Giga Drain allowing Volcarona to recover a decent amount of HP from whatever pokemon is in its way. With just one Quiver Dance up, Water types seldom even scare this monster away. A Giga Drain bops those things, leaving pretty much physical-attacking waters to scare Volcarona (which still sometimes isn't a problem with a Quiver Dance or two up). Volcarona has saved me many times, and even with Mega Beedrill on the team, it seems as though Volcarona is the mon that's sweeping games for me.
Vivillon-Ocean @ Focus Sash
Ability: Compound Eyes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sleep Powder
- Hurricane
- Bug Buzz
- Quiver Dance
The main reason I run Vivillon on this team is because it seems like no one really knows what it does because its in NU. In reality, getting a 98% accurate sleep powder up, using Quiver Dance once or twice, and proceeding to click Hurricane or Bug Buzz repeatedly makes this thing pretty strong. I appreciate its element of surprise. However, if I were to change this team, this may be the first mon I take off, due to its huge rocks weakness and uselessness in some matchups.
Galvantula @ Focus Sash
Ability: Compound Eyes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sticky Web
- Bug Buzz
- Volt Switch
- Thunder
Galvantula is our quick Electric type mon, and our sticky web setter. It's fun to not lead with this thing, because the momentum can be even midway through a game, and Galvantula can win a game by slowing switching-in mons down with a Sticky web. It has a Focus Sash (as Vivillon does) to lay down a Sticky Web or a huge hit (a 91% accurate Thunder with a 30% chance to paralyze), and is one of the team's answers to Water and Flying types.
Scizor @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Roost
- Bullet Punch
- Swords Dance
- Bug Bite
Scizor is yet another possible setup sweeper on this team. Swords Dance just adds to the power of Life Orb Technician hits, with Roost there to provide reliable recovery. Scizor has swept a couple of my more recent games after seeming to be a weak link in the beginning. An alternative to Life Orb offensive could be a SpDef or Def variant, or using Mega Scizor and taking Mega Beedrill off the team in favor of something else. However, I have yet to test that out. Scizor comes in clutch in a mono-flying or mono- dragon match, where it can possibly eat Dragonite's Lum Berry. Also, it is useful for Belly Drum mons, to eat their Sitrus Berries.
(No good GIF for Mega Beedrill either, surprisingly.)
Beedrill-Mega @ Beedrillite
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Poison Jab
- X-Scissor
-
- Protect
The last mon on this team is the always hard-hitting Mega Beedrill. Adaptability turns this thing into a monster, and max speed allows Mega Beedrill to outspeed base 80 Choice Scarfed mons by one point, which can prove to be very useful. I find myself using Beedrill a lot as a U-Turn revenge killer, but its also very useful to sweep. Its big issue is in the fact that it is virtually useless against Steel types, which may force me to replace U-Turn with Drill Run.
Threats
Monotype threats to this team are pretty much Fire, Steel, and Flying, with Ghost Type teams with Will-O-Wispers sometimes being an issue. Volcarona more or less acts as a counter to almost anything, though, if it takes little damage on switch on and gets a Quiver Dance up. Additionally, if a Ghost team sets up rocks, they will stay up, because every mon on the team is a spinblocker, which is something I will probably need to fix for this team.
Other Ideas
While still using the Bug-Type, I've though about possibly using Accelgor and Forretress along with either Mega Scizor or Mega Pinsir (Or even sticking with Mega Beedrill) to come up with a more balanced, spike-stacking with stealth rocks team, as to weaken as many mons as possible before bringing in a hard-hitting Mega to end the game. Also, as previously stated, I may be forced to run a defensive Scizor, perhaps even with Defog.
This team is really good as of now, though I know it could use a few tune-ups. I consider myself a slightly above average player, and I've gone something like 35-5 and with this team, including 10-2 on my KipUp laddering alt. Again, any feedback and some nicknames would be welcomed with open arms! Also, I apologize to anyone who opened this when I very first posted it, I accidentally posted it when I was only two or three mons into the analysis! Thanks for reading, and I hope y'all like this team!
Here are a couple replays to show you the team in action:
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/monotype-395291996
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/monotype-395317112
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/monotype-395330626
-BiscuitSpartan/BiscuitRoman/KipUp
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