Monotype For Fun Monotype Team

[Flarbishnarrg]

Short-time lurker and first-time poster here!

My friend and I have decided to make teams using our favourite types (Steel for me and Bug for him) to battle each other with.
I do not have much experience designing or battling with competitive teams, whereas my friend does and has designed an OU/UU viable Bug team.
I tried to design something in the same range, but due to my lack of experience I am unsure about a few things and would like some help from the people who actually know what they're talking about.

I'm not looking to have a team that is "the best team" or even one that will dunk on a Bug team, just using Pokemon I like that I think mesh well together.
We chose not to use Legendaries or Ultra-Beasts and we each have a Z-Stone and a Mega Stone.

Aegislash @ Steelium-Z
Ability: Stance Change
Nature: Sassy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD / 0 Spe

• King’s Shield
• Toxic
• Shadow Ball
• Gyro Ball

First off, I know that Aegislash is definitely not OU/UU material, but it's my favourite pokemon, and that's the whole point of this team.
I chose a defensive set because I think Aegislash makes a good wall and the Steelium-Z is mainly so I didn't double up on Leftovers.

Empoleon @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
Nature: Calm
EVs: 252 HP / 76 Def / 180 SpD

• Scald
• Defog
• Toxic
• Knock Off

I really like Empoleon and I thought that having a Water type for scald for burns on the team wouldn't hurt. That being said it's the one I'm most happy to replace.

Excadrill @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Mold Breaker
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

• Earthquake
• Iron Head
• Rock Slide
• Rapid Spin

Excadrill's main job is to revenge kill things with Rock Slide. Simple and effective.

Ferrothorn @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Iron Barbs
Nature: Careful
EVs: 252 HP / 72 Def / 184 SpD

• Power Whip
• Leech Seed
• Protect
• Stealth Rock

Ferrothorn's job is to be as annoying as possible. My friends bug team is all physical attackers and Ferrothorn does a real good job of standing in the way.

Magnezone @ Choice Specs
Ability: Magnet Pull
Nature: Timid
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD

• Volt Switch
• Thunderbolt
• Flash Cannon
• HP Fire

I chose Magnezone because having even more bulk can't hurt and it's Electric typing is really good for the match up. I wanted to give it a Choice Scarf but that would be a double up so I gave it Choice Specs instead.

Scirzor @ Scizorite
Ability: Light Metal
Nature: Careful
EVs: 248 HP / 48 Def / 212 SpD

• Swords Dance
• Bullet Punch
• Roost
• U-Turn

I needed a Mega for the team and all three of my choices (Mawile, Metagross, Scizor) are bulky physical attackers and I like Scizor more so I went with it.


This is the first team that I've tried to design and any criticisms or glaring flaws pointed out would be greatly appreciated.

 

[BlueRay]

Short-time lurker and first-time poster here!

My friend and I have decided to make teams using our favourite types (Steel for me and Bug for him) to battle each other with.
I do not have much experience designing or battling with competitive teams, whereas my friend does and has designed an OU/UU viable Bug team.
I tried to design something in the same range, but due to my lack of experience I am unsure about a few things and would like some help from the people who actually know what they're talking about.

I'm not looking to have a team that is "the best team" or even one that will dunk on a Bug team, just using Pokemon I like that I think mesh well together.
We chose not to use Legendaries or Ultra-Beasts and we each have a Z-Stone and a Mega Stone.

View attachment 142778
Aegislash @ Steelium-Z
Ability: Stance Change
Nature: Sassy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD / 0 Spe

• King’s Shield
• Toxic
• Shadow Ball
• Gyro Ball

First off, I know that Aegislash is definitely not OU/UU material, but it's my favourite pokemon, and that's the whole point of this team.
I chose a defensive set because I think Aegislash makes a good wall and the Steelium-Z is mainly so I didn't double up on Leftovers.


View attachment 142781
Empoleon @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
Nature: Calm
EVs: 252 HP / 76 Def / 180 SpD

• Scald
• Defog
• Toxic
• Knock Off

I really like Empoleon and I thought that having a Water type for scald for burns on the team wouldn't hurt. That being said it's the one I'm most happy to replace.


View attachment 142786
Excadrill @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Mold Breaker
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

• Earthquake
• Iron Head
• Rock Slide
• Rapid Spin

Excadrill's main job is to revenge kill things with Rock Slide. Simple and effective.


View attachment 142787
Ferrothorn @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Iron Barbs
Nature: Careful
EVs: 252 HP / 72 Def / 184 SpD

• Power Whip
• Leech Seed
• Protect
• Stealth Rock

Ferrothorn's job is to be as annoying as possible. My friends bug team is all physical attackers and Ferrothorn does a real good job of standing in the way.


View attachment 142788
Magnezone @ Choice Specs
Ability: Magnet Pull
Nature: Timid
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD

• Volt Switch
• Thunderbolt
• Flash Cannon
• HP Fire

I chose Magnezone because having even more bulk can't hurt and it's Electric typing is really good for the match up. I wanted to give it a Choice Scarf but that would be a double up so I gave it Choice Specs instead.


View attachment 142790
Scirzor @ Scizorite
Ability: Light Metal
Nature: Careful
EVs: 248 HP / 48 Def / 212 SpD

• Swords Dance
• Bullet Punch
• Roost
• U-Turn

I needed a Mega for the team and all three of my choices (Mawile, Metagross, Scizor) are bulky physical attackers and I like Scizor more so I went with it.


This is the first team that I've tried to design and any criticisms or glaring flaws pointed out would be greatly appreciated.

I'd suggest to remove 4 EVs from Def and put them in HP if you are playing on level 50. That way you don't havy any unnecessary EVs. I also suggest to invest in its Speed. At least, it should be fast enough to outspeed Mega-Venusaur. I usually go for 60 Speed when I'm playing on level 50. So removing 60 EVs from SpD might be a good idea, unless you have good reasons for that much SpD?
In my opinion, this should be the minimum for a battle on level 50: 252 HP, 52 Def, 100 SpD, 60 Speed. Rest: 44 EVs
Close Combat from Terrakion is a 3HKO, Earth Quake from Jolly Landorus-T is a 3HKO as well, with a slight chance of 2HKO if Stealth Rocks are on the field, 3.1%.
As for Thunderbolt from Life Orb Modest Alola-Raichu, it's only a 3HKO.
What you do with the rest of EVs is up to you, but personally I would put them into SpD to better take special attacks.

As for Aegislash, I would replace Gyro Ball with Substitute, which will mess up many Pkm. This combines well with King's Shield, Toxic, and Leftovers. Furthermore, you already have enough Pkm with Steel moves.
If you want, you could replace Choice Spec on Magnezone with Steelium-Z and replace Voltswitch with Substitute. This allows you to avoid Leech Seed from Ferrothorn and eases your prediction if you aren't sure which move you have to use because the opposing Pkm might switch it out. Steelium-Z is one of the few way to heavily damage Mega-Venusaur or Ground Pkm such as Garchomp. Therefore, a Modest nature wold be ideal for Magnezone, but Timid is fine as well to outspeed a normal, adamant Scizor.

 

[Eien]

Hey there! Honestly, due to your few restrictions, this team is actually pretty decent. Since we know you're battling a Bug team, I have a few suggestions I think that will really help you out in this matchup.

The most important change is because Steel teams even in standard Monotype have one big fear: Volcarona. Normally, we use Pokemon like Air Balloon Heatran to beat it with the double immunity to prevent Volcarona from sweeping. Unfortunately, I think you probably don't have that option, unless Heatran doesn't count as a legendary? To get around this massive threat, I suggest we redesign Empoleon's set to better suit your team. Note that we have Toxic on Aegislash and Rapid Spin on Excadrill. We don't really need to have Toxic and Defog on Empoleon when we already have both of those utility options covered by your teammates. Also, even with max Special Defense, +1 Volcarona can OHKO Empoleon with Inferno Overdrive. As a result, I think we should use Assault Vest with Rock Tomb on Empoleon. While it sounds like a meme, this is your best way to stop Volcarona from beating your team. We can keep Knock Off, but for our last move, I would usually recommend Ice Beam to target Landorus, but we don't really need that versus Bug. Instead, we can run something like Hidden Power Fire to hit Scizor and what not.

The other big change is switching Magnezone out for Skarmory. Skarmory is great against Bug teams because it walls basically everything except Volcarona and Galvantula, which we can easily check with our new Empoleon and Excadrill. Right now, something like a Mega Heracross looks almost unstoppable, and Mega Pinsir puts in a ton of work every time it gets in too. Skarmory would also let you stack Spikes too while also having a strong STAB Brave Bird to take on almost every Bug-type. Importantly, Skarmory gives you a Ground immunity, so Earthquake from say Mega Heracross isn't as big of a threat. It also helps that we just removed Leftovers from Empoleon, so Skarmory can now use that!

I hope this helped and good luck against your friend!

importable

Skarmory @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 224 HP / 252 Def / 32 SpD
Impish Nature
- Brave Bird
- Spikes
- Roost
- Whirlwind

Empoleon @ Assault Vest
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Scald
- Rock Tomb
- Knock Off
- Hidden Power [Fire]

 

[Flarbishnarrg]

Thank you for the replies!

If Assault Vest with Rock Tomb on Empoleon is a meme it's one I'll happily use. It sounds much better than what I had originally.
I will train up a Skarmory but I think I'll keep Magnezone and swap out Empoleon for it if I feel I need it. I just really like the Electric coverage that Magnezone gives over spikes and brave bird.