Monotype Fighting Mono Team Help?

[NylaTheWolf]

I'm working on a mono Fighting team, but I'm having some slight trouble. My team seems to have a lot of weaknesses according to a team builder calculator I've been using. (http://pokemonforever.com/teambuilder.php)

I also got some inspiration from the Fighting sample team from this article: I got some inspiration from this article: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/monotype-sample-teams.3599682/

This is the team:

Heracross @ Heracronite
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Pin Missile
- Rock Blast
- Swords Dance

Heracross has always been a pretty tough Pokemon, especially its mega. Being a bug type, it would actually help check Psychic types. Its access to Rock Blast will also help it check Flying types.

Also I needed a mega lol

Terrakion @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Close Combat
- Iron Head
- Earthquake

Not only do I adore Terrakion, but it's a really, really good Pokemon. Its typing also allows it to hit Flying types. It's also extremely fast, and will outspeed most opponents with its Choice Scarf. Earthquake is also very useful!

Cobalion @ Leftovers
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Iron Head
- Taunt
- Thunder Wave

I'm slightly skeptical on this move set since it's so different from the usual Cobalion set, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that it might actually not be that bad. Taunt prevents hazard entries, while it could set up its own with Stealth Rock. Thunder Wave could be used to slow down faster targets. Iron Head could hit Fairies, which is something my team struggles with a lot. Besides, according to Terrakion's UU article and Cobalion's Monotype Fighting article on Smogon, they have good synergy together.

Keldeo @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk
- Scald
- Secret Sword
- Hidden Power [Electric]
- Icy Wind

Let's just get the entire Swords of Justice here!

Keldeo is good for dealing with Water, Fire and Ground Types which the last few Pokemon tend to struggle with. It also has Hidden Power Electric for dealing with any threatening Water Pokemon (Ex: Mega Slowbro, Tapu Fini, etc) and Flying types. Icy Wind is also good at hitting Flying Types, and Secret Sword is just a pain :)

Pangoro @ Lum Berry
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Knock Off
- Drain Punch
- Gunk Shot

Even though it adds a 4x Fairy weakness, it makes up for it with its immunity to Psychic and its access to Gunk Shot so it could hit any opposing Fairy threats. Mold Breaker is also a great ability. It may not be the best Pokemon, but I think it works for my team.

I was thinking of using Kommo-o instead, since Dragon is such a good typing and I need resistance for Electric, but I'll let you guys share your opinions.

Hawlucha @ Electric Seed
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 96 HP / 252 Atk / 36 SpD / 124 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Acrobatics
- Swords Dance
- High Jump Kick
- Roost

Hawlucha is a great Pokemon. It helps remove other threatening Fighting types, it's immune to ground, and it's fast and strong. It does add a few more weaknesses, especially with Electric, but I think it would really help the team.

Any suggestions to improve my team? Whether minor or big, are there any changes I should make? Thanks for reading! Have a nice day!​

 

[Haaku.]

Hello! Cool team; I’m also quite the fan of Fighting-types and I have quite a few suggestions for the team. Bear with me since this is my first rate!

—>

Mega Heracross is a pretty cool option. However, it fails as a reliable answer against Psychic-type teams and is outclassed in this role by its pre-mega. If you want a reliable answer against most Psychic teams, Choice Scarf Heracross is a much better answer for this matchup. Mega Heracross is too slow and as a result gets revenge killed very easily by common Pokemon like Victini and Mega Gallade. Choice Scarf Heracross, on the other hand, outspeeds most of the type bar Choice Scarf Victini/Latios, and can trap the former with Pursuit after a V-create. You said you “needed a mega” which brings me to my next suggestion:

—>

Pangoro is unviable on Fighting teams. Gunk Shot isn’t enough to excuse its 4x Fairy weakness and abysmal Speed. Against Fairy-type teams, Pangoro fails to outspeed most offensive Pokemon like Tapu Koko and Tapu Bulu. Behind a Reflect from Klefki, Pangoro really fails to touch anything on the type, so I suggest replacing it with Mega Gallade. Mega Gallade helps in so many more matchups, like Fighting, Psychic, Poison, and Steel. It’s a far stronger Swords Dance wallbreaker with a better typing and a better Speed tier. Additionally, it still offers the same Knock Off support that Pangoro gives, so I suggest replacing it.

Not a suggestion, more of a comment. The set you have is the usual Cobalion set, so it works fine here. It’s not a good idea to look at Pokemon’s analyses from different metagames because it’s a completely different environment. That being said, I’d keep the set the same.

Hawlucha is an acceptable offensive option on Fighting teams, but Electric Seed is simply too situational to make use of in Monotype. I noticed the set is the exact same one in the OU analysis, which is completely different from the set Monotype runs. I would suggest an offensive Defog set as its Hawlucha’s current best role on the team.

Here are the sets:

Importable

Gallade-Mega @ Galladite
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Zen Headbutt
- Knock Off
- Swords Dance

Heracross @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Megahorn
- Close Combat
- Pursuit
- Stone Edge

Hawlucha @ Power Herb
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Sky Attack
- High Jump Kick
- Acrobatics
- Defog

Good luck with the team!

 

[Luthier]

hey man. wanted to lay some of my thoughts out here.

So basically looking at the team, I can agree with the first four mons in terms of your building. Although you could consider making the terakion the dual dance set and changing something else to scarf, fighting types dont have solid and reliable ways of revenging flying types to so I can see where you're coming from in terms of the scarf.

The issue with your team comes in when we start talking about Pangoro and Hawlucha. With a fighting type offense that you want to bring, you probably want to use something that a) has a super strong speed stat or b) has some way of surviving hits so you can bare minimum trade a mon with you opponent. In my opinion, pangoro simply comes in, maybe threatens out a mon, and then gets easily revenge killed. By this, i recommend that you change that pangoro into something a bit more powerful such as sash breloom.

Hide

Breloom @ Focus Sash
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Spore
- Bullet Seed
- Mach Punch
- Rock Tomb

The rock tomb on this is a safety check against a flying type and also the spore helps seal the deal.

the next thing i suggest correcting is the hawlucha. Now i see where you're coming from with the hawlucha. the only problem is that.... u have an electric seed as its item. Since you dont have a way of activating electric terrain there are a couple of other viable options that u can use to activate it. I think the best thing you could do would be a sitrus berry on a bulky hawlucha set.

Hide

Hawlucha @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 12 HP / 244 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Acrobatics
- Swords Dance
- High Jump Kick
- Substitute

This should add a bit of life to your team and push it more in the HO direct. Feel free to ask me questions and gl with ur team!

 

[Hammerhead96]

Another suggestion I would like to make to add to the great suggestions mentioned above is toxicroak. This mon seriously underrated in the tier, and can provide A LOT of support in the fairy MU. I personally like to run scarf toxicroak, but LO is also viable. The main purpose of toxicroak is to revenge kill, but it also serves as fighting's only counter to azumarill, as dry skin provides immunity to AJ and other water moves, and it outspeeds and ohkos with gunk shot. Unfortunately, poison jab doesn't ohko, so you either have to risk the miss, or get some chip damage before using poison jab.
Here's the set I recommend:

Toxicroak

Toxicroak @ Choice Scarf
Jolly Nature
Ability: Dry Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
- Drain Punch
- Gunk Shot
- Sucker Punch/knock off
- Ice Punch

the decision is yours as to whether you use knock off or sucker punch. Knock off is more raw damage, whereas sucker punch can help against opposing scarfers.
Hope this helps!

 

[smub]

Another suggestion I would like to make to add to the great suggestions mentioned above is toxicroak. This mon seriously underrated in the tier, and can provide A LOT of support in the fairy MU. I personally like to run scarf toxicroak, but LO is also viable. The main purpose of toxicroak is to revenge kill, but it also serves as fighting's only counter to azumarill, as dry skin provides immunity to AJ and other water moves, and it outspeeds and ohkos with gunk shot. Unfortunately, poison jab doesn't ohko, so you either have to risk the miss, or get some chip damage before using poison jab.
Here's the set I recommend:

Toxicroak

Toxicroak @ Choice Scarf
Jolly Nature
Ability: Dry Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
- Drain Punch
- Gunk Shot
- Sucker Punch/knock off
- Ice Punch

the decision is yours as to whether you use knock off or sucker punch. Knock off is more raw damage, whereas sucker punch can help against opposing scarfers.
Hope this helps!

The problem with Toxicroak is that it can't really beat Mega Diancie, and Lucario is generally the better anti-Fairy with its Steel STAB and not being hard-stopped by Mega Diancie thanks to Bullet Punch. The Fighting team already has HP Electric Keldeo as an answer to Azumarill, so Toxicroak isn't really unique in that regard. With that being said, Lucario is an incredibly niche pick that's only really helpful against Fairy, and performs kinda lackluster everywhere else. If you're interested in the set, here it is:

Lucario set

Lucario @ Steelium Z
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Close Combat
- Bullet Punch
- Swords Dance

Overall, I agree with all of Haaku's changes, but some possible options are Shadow Sneak>Knock Off on Mega Gallade for revenge killing Choice Scarf Latios at +2, and picking off Alolan Raichu under Electric Terrain, as well as Hydro Pump>Scald on Keldeo as a more powerful Water STAB to 2HKO defensive Mega Scizor. This is really up to your own preference so do with it what you wish. Good luck with the team!

 

[NylaTheWolf]

Thanks guys so much for all your help! I really appreciate it!

I didn't know what else to put on Hawlucha, since Smogon doesn't have a monotype page for it, so I went with electric seed :P

Also, I kind of like the Lucario idea since I love wolves (as seen by my username :P), but I also really love Cobalion. I'll probably wait for a second opinion, or test both of them out and see what works best for me.

This is my team so far:

Heracross @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Megahorn
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Stone Edge

Terrakion @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Close Combat
- Iron Head
- Earthquake

Jack (Cobalion) @ Leftovers
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Iron Head
- Taunt
- Thunder Wave

Keldeo @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk
- Scald
- Secret Sword
- Hidden Power [Electric]
- Icy Wind

Glade (Gallade) @ Galladite
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Zen Headbutt
- Knock Off

Talon (Hawlucha) (M) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 12 HP / 244 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Acrobatics
- Swords Dance
- High Jump Kick
- Substitute