Monotype (Fighting) Hawlucha Hyper Offense

[Maemiomu]

(Hawlucha) Fighting Hyper Offense

Hi, I'm new to Monotype, but I'm starting to love it, and I love the straightforward nature of hyper offense teams. I made this team while messing around with Monotype team-building, and it's worked pretty well for me. I'm not too high on the ladder, but I think this team has some good potential if it could be polished it up. The idea is that breakers clear the way, Gallade sets up Misty Terrain, and Hawlucha sweeps. It's simple and straight-forward, and I feel fighting types are power-houses right now. The team is pretty slow, so there are a few priority options *asterisked that help cover that.

The team:

Cobalion @ Focus Sash
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Toxic
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock

Cobalion serves as the dedicated lead, or 'dead' as I call it. Its main job is to support the rest of the team with utility, namely Stealth Rocks. It's not uncommon that it gets up Stealth Rocks and then gets sacked. Base 108 is pretty speedy, but it's still not the fastest pokémon in the world. Though, Cobalion manages to outspeed most leads that I come across, Taunting away their entry hazards and getting up its own. Toxic is run over Iron Head or Close Combat because, in conjunction with Taunt, it can cripple the walls and pivots that Cobalion baits in, and has generally seemed to add more pressure than the alternatives. Steel-types that are immune to Toxic get Volt Switched on into the breakers, which generally resist steels. Ground-types get Toxic-ed and get to pick up the kill on Cobalion. In a pinch, Cobalion's steel typing aids in soft checking Fairy-types, but the rest of the team tends to muscle through threats like this instead.

Conkeldurr @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Knock Off
- Facade

Conkeldurr serves as a dangerous breaker that's extremely hard to switch into. It blasts through so many threats, and the nature of Monotype makes choosing which kill-button to press a little easier (i.e. if the enemy is mono-normal, click Drain Punch; if psychic, Knock Off; etc). Guts passively provides invaluable support as a psuedo status-immunity, namely as a burn-immunity. Mach Punch* adds priority to patch up the team's general slow speed.

Sirfetch'd @ Choice Band
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- First Impression
- Poison Jab
- Defog

Sirfech'd is another awesome wall breaker that powers through a lot of the enemy team. Scrappy is nice on a fighting team because Ghost-type exploiters such as Aegislash can't handle it. First Impression* priority helps with revenge killing, Poison Jab cuts down fairies, and Defog clears entry hazards in a pinch. Note that Choice Band can let the enemy team cause trouble, especially when locking into First Impression or Defog, although the damage it adds is worth it.

Keldeo @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Surf
- Secret Sword
- Air Slash

Keldeo serves as the team's special breaker. I don't love this pokémon, but it's fast, hits hard, and special damage was needed on the team. Hydro Pump melts down many foes (when it lands), and Surf + Secret Sword offer accurate special damage options that can chip down the enemy for the rest of the team.

Gallade (M) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Steadfast
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Zen Headbutt
- Shadow Sneak
- Misty Terrain

Gallade's literal only role is to set up Misty Terrain and die. Although manually setting up terrain isn't typically optimal, Hawlucha's sweeping potential makes the sacrifice worth it. Gallade in particular is used because the only other manual terrain-setter that matches typing with Hawlucha is Rotom-F, and then this wouldn't get to be a fighting team. Setting up Swords Dance with Zen Headbutt and Shadow Sneak* can occasionally put in some work, especially against Psychic- or Ghost-type foes, but Hawlucha needs to get in before Misty Terrain ends so that it can sweep, so Gallade has to go down so that you don't have to switch out into Hawlucha, which could put it in danger of taking unneeded damage.

Hawlucha @ Misty Seed
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 96 HP / 252 Atk / 36 SpD / 124 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Acrobatics
- Roost

Finally, the sweeper. Hawlucha generally synergizes with terrains amazingly, benefitting from a Special Defense boost and the Unburden speed boost when it consumes Misty Seed. Misty Terrain is particularly good for keeping it status-free. This set is copied from the Smogon-suggested Gen7 build, so I'm unsure if it's optimal in Gen8, but it certainly gets the job done.

So that's it. Suggestions are welcome, as I would love to shine up this team, and I'm not the best at team-building myself!



Replays (I know these are just good match-ups, I haven't had much time to play since posting this.. more to come!!)

vs. mono-bug
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8monotype-1107178188
vs. mono-ice
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8monotype-1107118047
vs. mono-steel
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8monotype-1107116640


Art cred:
Phatmon (DeviantArt)
u/rod-munch (reddit)
@PerigiClemens (twitter)
pikachewy.tumblr.com (tumblr)

 

[Splash]

Hi Maemiomu cool idea for a Fighting team with Misty Terrain + Misty Seed, I do have some recommendation though to help cover the teams weaknesses vs the Monotype metagame and improve the team overall.

Major Changes

---->
Gallade ----> Terrakion

Although your idea of setting up Misty Terrain for Hawlucha might be great in theory, you're sort of putting all your eggs in one basket, as there will be matchups where Hawlucha will be unable to sweep and Gallade takes up a key slot on your team, and just setting up Misty Terrain and fainting is not worth a slot. This team also is very weak to threats such as Choice Scarf Gardevoir, Zeraora, Noivern, Choice Scarf Darmanitan, and even Choice Scarf Charizard in the sun, therefore Choice Scarf Terrakion is an excellent choice here. Stone Edge is able to threaten Darmanitan, Noivern, and Charizard as well as OHKO Gardevoir after rocks. Megahorn is a very high BP Bug-type move that it received this generation, which allows Terrakion to threaten and potentially sweep Psychic teams late-game, hitting Celebi, Indeedee, and Mew. Lastly, Earthquake will be able to OHKO Zeraora after rocks and hit Aegislash for super effective damage, both of which your team is fairly weak to.


---->
Sirfetch'd -----> Lucario

Both Sirfetch'd and Conkeldurr fills the same role on your team as a strong physical wallbreaker, therefore both are not needed. On Sirfetch'd you have First Impression as a mean of priority, and Poison Jab for Fairy-types, but it is not the most optimal Pokemon for that. Swords Dance Lucario is a great option to fill this slot as it is able to turn the Fairy matchup in your favor. With an Adamant nature, Lucario is also able to pick off Choice Scarf Gardevoir after Stealth Rock with a priority Life Orb Bullet Punch. Meteor Mash is able to OHKO bulkier Fairy-types such as physically defensive Hatterene, and physically defensive Galarian Weezing. The team looks decent enough vs Bulky Nasty Plot Togekiss with both Cobalion and Terrakion threatening it, however if you find that it is tough to deal with, then you can opt for a Jolly Nature on Lucario as you are able to then outspeed and cleanly OHKO it with Meteor Mash.



Minor Changes


Hawlucha

Although Misty Seed may not be an option, Hawlucha will still be able to pull off a late-game unburden sweep using White Herb. White Herb can instantly activate Unburden as Close Combat is used doubling Hawlucha's Speed. Running a Jolly nature over an Adamant nature will also allow you to outpace fast threats such as Choice Specs Gengar and Keldeo which otherwise threaten your team greatly only with a small loss in damage output. The Ghost matchup seems particularly difficult for this team as well, in this case running Brave Bird over Acrobatics is more optimal as you will obviously not be able to use Close Combat versus Ghost teams, allowing Acrobatics base power to reach 110. Keeping Roost over another move such as Taunt is fine as you already have Taunt + Calm Mind Keldeo which defeats both Toxapex and Hippowdon anyways, and Roost allows Hawlucha to recover off Brave Bird recoil. Your new reflected EV spread should also be 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe for maximum damage output and speed.




Cobalion

You have the right idea as to what role Cobalion plays on the team, however, Cobalion is also used to threaten Fairy teams. Iron Head is most definitely important on Cobalion. Being able to threaten Hatterene, Clefable and other Fairy-types is imperative to what Cobalion provides for Fighting teams, you will also want to opt for a Jolly nature. In addition, Cobalion can also be used as a valuable Dragon resist, switching into Draco Meteor from Dragapult as well as other Pokemon, therefore Leftovers is far more useful than a Focus Sash due to the passive recovery it provides in order to switch in more frequently, and Cobalion will rarely be OHKOed due to its decent natural bulk coupled with the HP investment. Another option in Thunder Wave presents itself over Toxic or Volt Switch. This allows Cobalion to cripple threats such as Choice Scarf Gardevoir and Dragapult making them less of a threat for your team. However, Volt Switch for offensive momentum and Toxic to put a Pokemon on a timer are also fine options as you have.



Keldeo

Toxapex is a fairly huge pain for Fighting teams to break, therefore opting for a Taunt + Calm Mind Keldeo set will be much more optimal. It is able to break Toxapex successfully as Scald will be doing very minuscule damage, and Leftovers would cancel out any acquired burn, and Taunt will be able to shut down any potential Recover, Haze or Toxic. With Keldeo running Taunt, it is also able to function as a stallbreaker and it can shut down passive Pokemon who look to set up hazards such as Toxic Spikes and spread status which both hinders Fighting teams. Hydro Pump is Keldeo's strongest STAB move which hits very hard when boosted. Aura Sphere allows Keldeo to OHKO physically defensive Ferrothorn after one Calm Mind boost. This new Keldeo set also allows Keldeo to switch moves, making Pokemon such as Choice Specs Aegislash on Steel teams less of a threat if Keldeo was to be choice locked into a Fighting STAB.


Conkeldurr

Now that Sirfetch'd has been removed from the team. Your team lacks hazard removal. Defog Conkeldurr is able to remove both Sticky Web and Toxic Spikes, and it will get a chance to do so in the Fairy matchup vs Pokemon such as Hatterene, Clefable, and Galarian Weezing, as well as have ample opportunities vs Electric teams who set Sticky Web. Your team now also has Taunt + Calm Mind Keldeo which can beat Toxapex, therefore Facade is not as vital in breaking it. Knock Off from Conkeldurr will also cause Toxapex to lose its passive recovery allowing Keldeo's job of beating it to be much easier.

These are all my recommendations and I hope you find success with them and good luck with the team!


(click the sprites for the importable)

 

[TezGreninja]

As an additional question, I don't recall misty terrain blocking status for non-grounded pokemon — have you checked whether Hawlucha is immune to status under terrain?

 

[Conflux]

Hey, Splash covered some stuff pretty nicely but I have some different suggestions.

Sirfetch'd -> Kommo-o

->

Set

Kommo-o @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Bulletproof
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Clanging Scales
- Focus Blast
- Flamethrower
- Flash Cannon

As said above, Sirfetch'd is a sub-optimal choice on Fighting-type teams. While Lucario can do well vs Fairy-type teams, I recommend using Choice Scarf Kommo-o instead because it's amazing against Dragon which is top 5 at the moment. I've played the match-up several times and between Thunder Wave Cobalion and Scarf Kommo-o it's always in your favor if you play it well. You outspeed everything bar faster Scarf users such as Dragapult and you Speed tie with Scarf Duraludon, both of which are comfortably checked by Cobalion. Bulletproof also gives you a switch-in to Shadow Ball which is great seeing as Fighting teams don't tend to run a Ghost resist. In addition, many players most likely won't expect Choice Scarf Kommo-o meaning you can get some surprise kills. As for Lucario, a lot of Fairy teams run Babiri Berry on either Togekiss or Grimmsnarl which can then proceed to go for Flamethrower or Drain Punch to handle Lucario, meaning it doesn't consistently beat Fairy.

Hawlucha

Set

Hawlucha @ Power Herb
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Acrobatics
- Swords Dance
- Sky Attack

I used White Herb + Close Combat for a while before getting sick of it after realizing how inconsistent it is. It makes you rely on using Close Combat to get your Unburden boost which is a big drawback in certain match-ups such as against Poison-, Grass-, Ghost (although Hawlucha's not that good in this match-up anyway) and opposing Fighting teams. I think Power Herb + Sky Attack is the superior set and useful in more match-ups than White Herb. It's also a very powerful attack which can catch bulky Pokemon such as Toxapex off guard, forcing them to switch out after presumably using Haze, allowing you to Swords Dance again on the switch and proceed to threaten your opponent's team with your +2 Unburden Hawlucha.

Keldeo

I agree with Splash about changing Keldeo to Calm Mind + Taunt, but I recommend Secret Sword over Aura Sphere. Keldeo runs Aura Sphere on Water-type teams because it deals better with Ferrothorn, but Fighting-type teams don't struggle with Ferrothorn meaning Keldeo is better off with Secret Sword as its a tiny bit more powerful than Aura Sphere and has a better match-up against Calm Mind users such as Jirachi and opposing Keldeo.

Hope you find this helpful, good luck with the team!