Monotype Deep Dark Secrets - Balanced Dark Team

[Splash]

——Introduction——

Whats up Everybody, Splashbrutha here with my first RMT, the team being Balance Dark, something that was very successful on the ladder, i was able to reach a decent ELO with solid GXE, and will continue to reach even higher. Was looking for some positive/negative feedback on this Balance Dark team, overall it has a great matchup vs most of the ladder and i enjoy using the team and would like it to as successful as possible. The Deep Dark Secrets have been unleashed.

Team (importable)

Sableye-Mega @ Sablenite
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover
- Calm Mind
- Dazzling Gleam

Hydreigon @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Dark Pulse
- Flamethrower
- U-turn

Greninja @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Protean
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Extrasensory
- Gunk Shot
- Ice Beam

Mandibuzz @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 248 HP / 244 Def / 16 Spe
Impish Nature
- Roost
- Defog
- Brave Bird
- Foul Play

Bisharp @ Steelium Z
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Swords Dance

Tyranitar @ Chople Berry
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Careful Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Stealth Rock
- Pursuit
- Stone Edge

Team Building Process

Wanted a Balance Dark team, started with Calm mind Mega Sableye

Next up Included Tyranitar which can Sponge Special hits and give me Stealth Rocks.

After I added Mandibuzz to complete a defensive core with the previous two

Using Greninja as a scarfer was great due to its great speed teir being able to revenge kill a lot of threats and great movepool

Bisharp is a great Physical Setup Sweeper to take advantage of bulkier teams

Lastly, After adding Bisharp i decided to add Hydreigon as it is a great special wall breaker to compliment Bisharp, with also a good move pool

----THE TEAM----

Sableye-Mega @ Sablenite

Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Bold Nature

Will-O-Wisp

Recover

Calm Mind

Dazzling Gleam
​

Calm Mind Mega Sableye set. Sablenite of course so it can Mega Evolve. Will-O-Wisp to cripple Physical threats. Recover to restore HP. Calm mind to boost , Dazzling Gleam to hit and ease the Fighting Matchup and to hit Dragon types, and to 1v1 opposing Mega Sableye. Maximum HP investment and Maximum Defense investment and a Bold nature is used to compliment the Calm Mind set. Prankster is the most useful ability priot to Mega evolving to get off a priority Will-O-Wisp. Once Mega-Evolving Magic Bounce bounces back status moves.

Tyranitar @ Chople Berry

Ability: Sand Stream
EVS: 252 HP / 252 SpD/ 4 Spe
Careful Nature

Thunder Wave

Stealth Rock

Pursuit

Stone Edge
​

Tyranitar serves as a Rock setter , and a sponge for Special hits being able to come in on Draco's and moves as such. Chople Berry to make the 4x Fighting weakness less apparent to moves such as Focus Blast etc. Thunder Wave is used as utility to paralyze any mons and halve their speed to aid Tyranitar itself and other members of the team. Stealth Rock of course to get up a form of entry hazards. Pursuit is used to Trap a Pokemon like Latios going for Draco Meteor and other Special attackers who would not want to stay in on Tyranitar. Stone Edge Strong Rock STAB and is able to OHKO troublesome Pokemon like Araquanid and Volcarona. Maximum HP investment and Maximum SpD investment with a Careful ensures Tyranitar will eat the majority of special hits in the sand. Sand Stream is the best ability giving Tyranitar a 1.5x Boost to its SpD in the sand.

Mandibuzz @ Rocky Helmet

Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 248 HP / 244 Def / 16 Spe
Impish Nature

Roost

Defog

Brave Bird

Foul Play
​

Mandibuzz' role is primarily a Physically Defensive check, and used for Hazard removal such as Webs. Rocky Helmet Punishes Lopunny for using Fake-Out and other mons using contact moves. Roost is to Restore HP. Defog for Hazard and Screen Removal. Brave Bird is Strong Flying Stab that OHKO's threatens Fighting and Bug types Scarf Heracross in particular. Foul Play is used for Checking Belly Drum Azumarill and Swords Dance Mega Scizor as they are threats to the type. Near Maximum HP and Defensive EVs and an Impish Nature lets Mandibuzz tank physical hits, and the 16 speed EVs is used to out speed Adamant Azumarill and speed tie with 200 speed mons. Overcoat is Mandibuzz best ability giving it a free switch-in to Spore attacks and grants no chip damage from weather.

Greninja @ Choice Scarf

Ability: Protean
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature

Hydro Pump

Extrasensory

Gunk Shot

Ice Beam
​

Greninja functions as a fast revenge killer thanks to its excellent speed tier holding the Choice Scarf, being able to outspeed almost every other scarfer in the monotype. Greninja gets access to a great movepool. Hydro Pump is to hit and blowback mons with great base power. Extrasensory is used to hit the Fighting matchup and OHKOs Keldeo and Mega Lopunny . Gunk Shot is good coverage to hit Fairies with high base power OHKOing Tapu Koko, Tapu Bulu and Azumarill . Ice beam Aids in the Dragon matchup. Maximum SpA Evs lets Greninja hit as hard as possible with its special moves, and maximum speed with a Naive Nature is used to let Greninja Outspeed opposing scarfers and boosted mons. The Protean ability is used to give Greninja a 1.5x STAB boost on every move it dishes out.

Bisharp @ Steelium Z

Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature

Sucker Punch

Knock Off

Iron Head

Swords Dance
​

Bisharp is the sole setup physical wall breaker on the team. Being able to boost its Attack stat it can break thru walls. Using the Steelium Z it pressures the entire Fairy Matchup as every mon has a chance of getting OHKO'd on the Standard Fairy team, Klefki being the only one that takes it however it dents it very hard opening up the matchup for scarf Greninja. Corkscrew Crash also OHKOs Defensive Cradily unboosted, and OHKOS the troublesome Alolan Muk after rocks damage. Sucker Punch is strong priority being able to dent faster mons when boosted. Knock off is Vital for Item removal and gets hits hard vs matchups like toxapex and celesteela who rely on their item. Iron head is used to hit fairies and with Steelium-Z once again breaks through Fairy. Swords Dance is used to raise Bisharp's high attack stat by two stages making Bisharp a great wall breaker. Maximum Attack and Speed EVs in conjunction with a Jolly Nature is used for Bisharp to Outspeed Adamant Diggersby, Adamant Mamoswine, and Adamant Dragonite. Defiant is the ability of choice to punish opposing sticky web users and opposing defoggers giving Bisharp a +2 Attack raise.

Hydreigon @ Choice Specs

Ability: Levitate
EVs 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature

Draco Meteor

Dark Pulse

Flamethrower

U-Turn
​

Hydreigon is the special wallbreaker that compliments the team nicely. Holding Choice Specs its Special Attack stat is boosted by 1.5x and hits incredibly hard. Specs STAB Draco Meteor neutrally blows back almost every mon other than Chansey. Notably it 2HKOs Mantine after Rocks Damage. Dark Pulse also hits extremely hard neutrally as STAB and does not have the drawback of dropping Special Attack. Flamethrower is used to get rid of Scizor and Ferrothorn as well as 2HKO Celesteela without missing with Fire Blast, it does the same job as what Fire Blast does thus using it is no drawback as it still picks up the same OHKOs and 2HKOs for the most part. U-turn is used to pivot to maintain momentum. Maximum SpA and Speed EVs with a Timid Nature lets Hydreigon Hit as hard as possible and outspeed as much as possible. Levitate is Hydreigons only Ability and grants a Ground immunity.

Elo + GXE

Replays

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-748884854

vs Fire



http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-748891042

vs Psychic

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-746464669
Vs Fighting Counterplaying

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-748855464

Vs Flying



http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-748867472

Vs Flying





http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-748865525

Vs Normal



http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-748861984

Vs Dark



http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-746469859

Threats

Fast Fighting types like Mega Lopunny and Keldeo are a big threat to this team, Mega Lopunny however gets checked by mandibuzz as long as Rocks are not up on your side of the field. Specs/Scarf Keldeo does not have a reliable switch in on this squad.


252 Atk Lopunny-Mega High Jump Kick vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Chople Berry Tyranitar: 408-480 (100.9 - 118.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Lopunny-Mega High Jump Kick vs. 248 HP / 244+ Def Mandibuzz: 154-183 (36.4 - 43.2%) -- 93.8% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Lopunny-Mega High Jump Kick vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Sableye-Mega: 270-320 (88.8 - 105.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

Strong and Fast Fairies like Mega Diancie, Tapu Koko, and Tapu Fini give the squad quite some trouble. At times Mega Diancie will just claim one via STAB Moonblast as there are no switch ins on the squad, Specs/Plate Koko can freely Volt Switch or throw off Specs Dazzling Gleam or Thunderbolts with no drawback vs the team. Tapu Fini also can freely click Moonblast.

240 SpA Diancie-Mega Moonblast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Bisharp: 241-285 (88.9 - 105.1%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
240 SpA Diancie-Mega Moonblast vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Sableye-Mega: 320-378 (105.2 - 124.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
240 SpA Diancie-Mega Moonblast vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Mandibuzz: 374-444 (88.4 - 104.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
240 SpA Diancie-Mega Moonblast vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Tyranitar in Sand: 192-228 (47.5 - 56.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

Setup Bug types Like Mega Scizor or Volcarona can obliterate the team in general, Max attack Max speed Mega Scizor with an Adamant Nature can 6-0 with one Swords Dance and Stealth rocks up and Sableye already Mega Evolved. Volcarona packing Bug Buzz is a threat. some Calcs are as follows

+2 252+ Atk Technician Scizor-Mega Bug Bite vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Sableye-Mega: 220-261 (72.3 - 85.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Technician Scizor-Mega Bullet Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Hydreigon: 262-309 (80.6 - 95%) -- 50% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Technician Scizor-Mega Bug Bite vs. 248 HP / 244+ Def Mandibuzz: 252-297 (59.5 - 70.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Technician Scizor-Mega Bug Bite vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Tyranitar: 662-780 (163.8 - 193%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Technician Scizor-Mega Bullet Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Greninja: 165-195 (57.8 - 68.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Technician Scizor-Mega Bug Bite vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Bisharp: 357-421 (131.7 - 155.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO

--Shoutouts--​

Shoutout to GingerNinja87 for the Beautiful Banner for the RMT Thanks !

--Conclusion--
Thanks to everyone who decided to look at my team, Constructive Criticism as well as Positive/Negative feedback is appreciated. Balance Dark is my favourite type playstyle of the type, feel free to use the team its pasted at the beginning, and Thanks again!
​

 

[Eien]

Hey, looks like a nice team! We very rarely ever see Calm Mind Mega Sableye nowadays, so it's refreshing to see a modern take on it. I have a few ideas for helping you get around parts of your threatlist.

First, Alolan Muk. Your team could really use the help against Fairy-types (yes, even in spite of Bisharp!), and Alolan Muk is a really solid answer. The problem with Bisharp is that a lot of Fairy-types outspeed and OHKO it. Because you don't really have a defensive Fairy check, this means you'll trade kills and that won't end well for you because Fairy has the advantage going into that scenario. As a result, I would suggest dropping Bisharp for Alolan Muk. While I think an Assault Vest Alolan Muk would probably help you with that defensive need, for your particular team a Curse set would do better, as you can then replace your current physical attacker with another physical attacker. A Curse Alolan Muk can set up against almost anything on Fairy other than Azumarill if played correctly. Furthermore, even without Assault Vest, Alolan Muk can tank a +1 Inferno Overdrive from Volcarona in the worst case scenario. It also helps out in the Normal matchup, where Mega Lopunny has no fear of Bisharp's Sucker Punch.

For your Greninja, you have Dazzling Gleam Mega Sableye to hit Fighting, so I don't think Extrasensory is very needed here. You really shouldn't need more help against it. So, I would suggest running U-turn over Extrasensory. This gives you a pivot option without needing prediction and pairs very nicely with your Hydreigon. Greninja can easily pivot around as it forces threats out, giving you the upper hand. Second, while Alolan Muk can tank a hit at full from Volcarona, that's really not reliable. I think you should definitely run Rock Slide instead of Hydro Pump. A few reasons for this. First, Volcarona is of course a huge threat to your team, and having Rock Slide on Choice Scarf Greninja makes that a minor inconvenience. Mega Charizard Y is another big threat that your team seems to really struggle against. Rock Slide not only checks that, but few Pokemon will want to switch into it on Fire teams and Flying teams will not appreciate taking a huge hit to Mantine, which frequently switches into Greninja. Because we're now using three physical moves, it really only makes sense to switch your spread around to 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe. This has the added benefit of making Gunk Shot strong enough to beat Clefable.

With those two major changes out of the way, we can look at smaller tune ups. Mandibuzz definitely wants to be faster than Jolly Azumarill on this team so that it can OHKO it with Foul Play after it Z-Belly Drums. You're a handful of chip away from getting dropped by +6 Aqua Jet, so go ahead and use a 248 HP / 164 Def / 96 Spe spread for that very purpose. This still avoids being 2HKOed by Mega Lopunny if Stealth Rock is off the field. (Speaking of Stealth Rock, Mega Sableye can prevent it from Chansey for free).

I think your Tyranitar would really appreciate Fire Blast instead of Pursuit. This lets you pressure Flying teams a ton, as you would be able to hit both Mantine and Skarmory with super effective coverage. You will of course then use a Sassy nature instead to avoid weakening Fire Blast. With the help of Thunder Wave, this will give you the chance to reliably keep Stealth Rock on the field to put the hurt on Flying. Since you lack the utility set on Mega Sableye, being able to have this way to check Flying is very helpful. Pursuit is nice, but it really isn't that important for Dark teams, since, well, your team can handle Pokemon weak to Dark by its very nature.

That's all I got, so I hope this helped and good luck with your team!

sets

Greninja @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Rock Slide
- U-turn
- Gunk Shot
- Ice Beam

Mandibuzz @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 248 HP / 164 Def / 96 Spe
Impish Nature
- Roost
- Defog
- Brave Bird
- Foul Play

Muk-Alola @ Figy Berry
Ability: Poison Touch
EVs: 248 HP / 12 Def / 248 SpD
Careful Nature
- Knock Off
- Poison Jab
- Recycle
- Curse

Tyranitar @ Chople Berry
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Stealth Rock
- Fire Blast
- Stone Edge

edit because I forgot to explain: The reason we drop Hydro Pump on Greninja is because it brings very little coverage with Ice Beam already on the set. Because Greninja has Protean, coverage is king, and the added damage from Hydro Pump doesn't make it better than Ice Beam in almost every situation. Ice Beam has better coverage and more than enough damage, making Hydro Pump relatively unneeded.

 

[Splash]

Hey, looks like a nice team! We very rarely ever see Calm Mind Mega Sableye nowadays, so it's refreshing to see a modern take on it. I have a few ideas for helping you get around parts of your threatlist.

First, Alolan Muk. Your team could really use the help against Fairy-types (yes, even in spite of Bisharp!), and Alolan Muk is a really solid answer. The problem with Bisharp is that a lot of Fairy-types outspeed and OHKO it. Because you don't really have a defensive Fairy check, this means you'll trade kills and that won't end well for you because Fairy has the advantage going into that scenario. As a result, I would suggest dropping Bisharp for Alolan Muk. While I think an Assault Vest Alolan Muk would probably help you with that defensive need, for your particular team a Curse set would do better, as you can then replace your current physical attacker with another physical attacker. A Curse Alolan Muk can set up against almost anything on Fairy other than Azumarill if played correctly. Furthermore, even without Assault Vest, Alolan Muk can tank a +1 Inferno Overdrive from Volcarona in the worst case scenario. It also helps out in the Normal matchup, where Mega Lopunny has no fear of Bisharp's Sucker Punch.

For your Greninja, you have Dazzling Gleam Mega Sableye to hit Fighting, so I don't think Extrasensory is very needed here. You really shouldn't need more help against it. So, I would suggest running U-turn over Extrasensory. This gives you a pivot option without needing prediction and pairs very nicely with your Hydreigon. Greninja can easily pivot around as it forces threats out, giving you the upper hand. Second, while Alolan Muk can tank a hit at full from Volcarona, that's really not reliable. I think you should definitely run Rock Slide instead of Hydro Pump. A few reasons for this. First, Volcarona is of course a huge threat to your team, and having Rock Slide on Choice Scarf Greninja makes that a minor inconvenience. Mega Charizard Y is another big threat that your team seems to really struggle against. Rock Slide not only checks that, but few Pokemon will want to switch into it on Fire teams and Flying teams will not appreciate taking a huge hit to Mantine, which frequently switches into Greninja. Because we're now using three physical moves, it really only makes sense to switch your spread around to 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe. This has the added benefit of making Gunk Shot strong enough to beat Clefable.

With those two major changes out of the way, we can look at smaller tune ups. Mandibuzz definitely wants to be faster than Jolly Azumarill on this team so that it can OHKO it with Foul Play after it Z-Belly Drums. You're a handful of chip away from getting dropped by +6 Aqua Jet, so go ahead and use a 248 HP / 164 Def / 96 Spe spread for that very purpose. This still avoids being 2HKOed by Mega Lopunny if Stealth Rock is off the field. (Speaking of Stealth Rock, Mega Sableye can prevent it from Chansey for free).

I think your Tyranitar would really appreciate Fire Blast instead of Pursuit. This lets you pressure Flying teams a ton, as you would be able to hit both Mantine and Skarmory with super effective coverage. You will of course then use a Sassy nature instead to avoid weakening Fire Blast. With the help of Thunder Wave, this will give you the chance to reliably keep Stealth Rock on the field to put the hurt on Flying. Since you lack the utility set on Mega Sableye, being able to have this way to check Flying is very helpful. Pursuit is nice, but it really isn't that important for Dark teams, since, well, your team can handle Pokemon weak to Dark by its very nature.

That's all I got, so I hope this helped and good luck with your team!

sets

Greninja @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Rock Slide
- U-turn
- Gunk Shot
- Ice Beam

Mandibuzz @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 248 HP / 164 Def / 96 Spe
Impish Nature
- Roost
- Defog
- Brave Bird
- Foul Play

Muk-Alola @ Figy Berry
Ability: Poison Touch
EVs: 248 HP / 12 Def / 248 SpD
Careful Nature
- Knock Off
- Pursuit
- Recycle
- Curse

Tyranitar @ Chople Berry
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Stealth Rock
- Fire Blast
- Stone Edge

edit because I forgot to explain: The reason we drop Hydro Pump on Greninja is because it brings very little coverage with Ice Beam already on the set. Because Greninja has Protean, coverage is king, and the added damage from Hydro Pump doesn't make it better than Ice Beam in almost every situation. Ice Beam has better coverage and more than enough damage, making Hydro Pump relatively unneeded.

No poison STAB on muk? And thank you for the suggestions man

 

[Eien]

I mistyped the set sorry! It should be poison jab of course! Editing now.

No poison STAB on muk? And thank you for the suggestions man

 

[Splash]

I mistyped the set sorry! It should be poison jab of course! Editing now.

Hey Eien! Just thought I would revisit this almost 9 months later, as i've never bumped it before. Would running this Z-Stall Breaker Hydreigon be a better option for this team over Specs? or would it be personal preference in today's meta?

set

Hydreigon @ Dragonium Z
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Dark Pulse
- Taunt
- Roost

 

[Eien]

Hey Eien! Just thought I would revisit this almost 9 months later, as i've never bumped it before. Would running this Z-Stall Breaker Hydreigon be a better option for this team over Specs? or would it be personal preference in today's meta?

set

Hydreigon @ Dragonium Z
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Dark Pulse
- Taunt
- Roost

It could work yes. It would be quite helpful against Poison in particular. I would probably give it a go and see how you like it personally. You might find Steel to be a bit more annoying without Choice Specs-boosted Dark Pulse breaking for free and Tapu Koko is much happier to switch into a non-Choice Specs Hydreigon, but the added support against Poison and Flying would be great for sure.