Welcome to my attempt at making a monotype ground team. I don't really know much about the monotype meta but it seemed really interesting so I decided to make this team. Please help me improve whatever you see below! (Apologies if the formatting is bad as I'm doing this in mobile)
1. Hippowdon
I chose hippowdon for 2 main reasons. Obviously he's a sand setter and for a mono-ground team that's incredibly valuable. And he's pretty tanky, normally functioning as my main tank. In most games I notice him holding his own, normally I don't really wanna lose him tho for the sand so he doesn't get much play outside of taking hits that would normally kill one of the sweepers.
2. Excadrill
Normally in a sand team I would use dracozolt but since this is mono-ground here's the primary sweeper. Excadrill is normally sent as a follow up after Hippowdon (unless garchomp is better suited for whatever reason). Excadrill just has insane power in sand and if played carefully can sweep entire teams. Excadrill is incredibly valuable in almost every encounter (especially those where garchomp isn't)
3. Garchomp
A pseudo-legendary feared by all who fought Cynthia without a fast ice type, functions as a secondary sweeper to Excadrill incase it dies or we're fighting a fighting type mono. This pokemon is normally played as a follow up to Hippowdon to abuse sand veil (which I was surprised to find isn't illegal in monotype). Garchomp feels like flipping a coin a bit. Sometimes he's really good and sometimes he isn't (or more accurately isn't as good as excadrill). He can provide game winning value but with how inconsistent it is I'm not exactly sure it's all that useful.
4. Nidoking
Nidoking is stupidly good on this team. He's the lead if Hippowdon isn't the way to go (which doesn't happen much). Most importantly he has coverage. So much coverage. Nidoking passes obstacles that stop things like Excadrill from sweeping. But he's really good on his own too. Sheer Force + Life orb is a very lethal combo that can sweep teams if left unchecked. Nidoking is insanely valuable on this team and I would rarely (if ever) sac him off.
5. Landorus-T
From my experience using Lando-T it's as a sweeper, but as a tank he works just as well. He plays as a 2nd tank and a bit of extra support with gravity. I've found him to enable the sweepers to do their job extra well and stop a lot of mons before they become too much of a problem. Lando-T is decently valuable as the pressure he creates with little effort is pretty nice to sometimes force out a sub-optimal move.
6. Swampert
To be completely honest I don't use this mon all that much. No hate to swampert or anything but it's stuck in a weird place on the team. Swampert is a special tank with a little bit of offensive pressure but I feel that Lando-T does this exact job but better. Normally Swampert isn't all that valuable, but this isn't exactly a fair diagnosis because I don't use him much.
So yeah, that's my attempt at ground type mono. Please help me improve it as I feel like it could definitely be better, but I just don't know how.
1. Hippowdon
I chose hippowdon for 2 main reasons. Obviously he's a sand setter and for a mono-ground team that's incredibly valuable. And he's pretty tanky, normally functioning as my main tank. In most games I notice him holding his own, normally I don't really wanna lose him tho for the sand so he doesn't get much play outside of taking hits that would normally kill one of the sweepers.
2. Excadrill
Normally in a sand team I would use dracozolt but since this is mono-ground here's the primary sweeper. Excadrill is normally sent as a follow up after Hippowdon (unless garchomp is better suited for whatever reason). Excadrill just has insane power in sand and if played carefully can sweep entire teams. Excadrill is incredibly valuable in almost every encounter (especially those where garchomp isn't)
3. Garchomp
A pseudo-legendary feared by all who fought Cynthia without a fast ice type, functions as a secondary sweeper to Excadrill incase it dies or we're fighting a fighting type mono. This pokemon is normally played as a follow up to Hippowdon to abuse sand veil (which I was surprised to find isn't illegal in monotype). Garchomp feels like flipping a coin a bit. Sometimes he's really good and sometimes he isn't (or more accurately isn't as good as excadrill). He can provide game winning value but with how inconsistent it is I'm not exactly sure it's all that useful.
4. Nidoking
Nidoking is stupidly good on this team. He's the lead if Hippowdon isn't the way to go (which doesn't happen much). Most importantly he has coverage. So much coverage. Nidoking passes obstacles that stop things like Excadrill from sweeping. But he's really good on his own too. Sheer Force + Life orb is a very lethal combo that can sweep teams if left unchecked. Nidoking is insanely valuable on this team and I would rarely (if ever) sac him off.
5. Landorus-T
From my experience using Lando-T it's as a sweeper, but as a tank he works just as well. He plays as a 2nd tank and a bit of extra support with gravity. I've found him to enable the sweepers to do their job extra well and stop a lot of mons before they become too much of a problem. Lando-T is decently valuable as the pressure he creates with little effort is pretty nice to sometimes force out a sub-optimal move.
6. Swampert
To be completely honest I don't use this mon all that much. No hate to swampert or anything but it's stuck in a weird place on the team. Swampert is a special tank with a little bit of offensive pressure but I feel that Lando-T does this exact job but better. Normally Swampert isn't all that valuable, but this isn't exactly a fair diagnosis because I don't use him much.
Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 128 Def / 128 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Slack Off
- Whirlwind
Garchomp @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Veil
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Scale Shot
- Stone Edge
Excadrill @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- X-Scissor
- Rapid Spin
Landorus-Therian @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 144 Def / 68 SpD / 48 Spe
Impish Nature
- Substitute
- Bulk Up
- Earthquake
- Gravity
Nidoking @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Earth Power
- Flamethrower
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
Swampert @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 240 HP / 16 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Roar
- Flip Turn
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 128 Def / 128 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Slack Off
- Whirlwind
Garchomp @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Veil
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Scale Shot
- Stone Edge
Excadrill @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- X-Scissor
- Rapid Spin
Landorus-Therian @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 144 Def / 68 SpD / 48 Spe
Impish Nature
- Substitute
- Bulk Up
- Earthquake
- Gravity
Nidoking @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Earth Power
- Flamethrower
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
Swampert @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 240 HP / 16 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Roar
- Flip Turn
So yeah, that's my attempt at ground type mono. Please help me improve it as I feel like it could definitely be better, but I just don't know how.
over life orb, this allows it to preserve its health to scare threats for longer, and the extra power comes in clutch in some moments.
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