XY OU GroundChampion

Dr.FretNot

Dr.FretNot

Ground Champion
Monotype Challenge
OU Rules

A Note on this team:
This is my team for a gym leader style tournament. It's going to be 3v3 flat battle. I need to determine the 6 best ground pokemon to make 3-pokemon teams to try to handle other monotype teams. I won last year, but this year it is much bigger. I know I can have trouble with ice, fairy, grass, water, and dragon. Of the pokemon listed, which 3 would be the best team to deal with X type. I am open to move, Pokemon, etc. suggestions. OU Rules. I can only use Ground type Pokemon.



Garchomp @ Garchompite
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
IVS: 31/31/31/31/31/31
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Stone Edge
- Flamethrower

Code name: Evil Barney (shiny)
Mega garchomp is generally my go-to sweeper. He hits incredibly hard, and if I have sand up he hits even harder. If it is not flying or resisted, it usually gets earthquaked. I prefer dragon claw over outrage, even with the drop in base power. I have bad luck, so I have to compensate for safe and powerful moves.

Flygon @ Lum Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
IVS: 31/31/31/xx/31/31
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- U-turn
- Sandstorm
Flygon is used for utility and scouting when facing high risk teams. Rock slide and earthquake at least allow it to hit things, even if it gets resisted. Sandstorm is on there for if I am not using hippowdon in that match.

Mamoswine @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
IVS: 31/31/31/xx/31/31
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Ice Shard
- Stealth Rock
- Icicle Spear
Manis wine is my answer to dragon, flying, and grass types usually, One ice move for priority and the other for more damage. Stealth rock is there mainly for going against flying teams, because mamoswine usually goes out first. Mamoswine is generally a lot faster than people expect and allows me to nail them hard. Earthquake for obvious reasons.

Excadrill @ Soft Sand
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
IVS: 31/31/31/xx/31/31
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
Shadow Claw
Rock Slide
Swords Dance
I brought excadrill back to deal wih poison types. It is also my main counter to Mega Venusaur. If I can yawn, (then slack off if I'm pretty sure they will hit me) something with hippowdon, which also allows for the sandstorm to kick in, I can get excadrill in usually, and If they don't switch the pokemon out, I can sometimes set up a free Swords Dance. +2 Attack Earthquake with speed boosted from Sandstorm. I am interested in better options for Excadrill's held item.

Hippowdon @ Smooth Rock
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpDef
IVS: 31/31/31/xx/31/31
Careful Nature
- Earthquake
- Yawn
- Slack Off
- Toxic
Generally a partner if I am going to be using Excadrill, but also good in general. The smooth rock allows me a "long" sandstorm, which hurts none of my pokemon, and helps a few. Anything like skarmory comes in and hippowdon just yawns (literally haha). If gravity is in effect, then Earthquake. Slack off for recovery, and toxic there for things I can't earthquake.


Landorus-Therian @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
IVS: 31/31/31/31/31/31
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Gravity
- Stone Edge
- U-turn
Landorus-T is another hard-hitter. Gravity Is on there to both to make things susceptible to Earthquake, but it also increases Stone Edge's Accuracy (which is good). U-turn is mainly there if Landorus-T just can't handle something, but I dont want to give them a turn without any kind of damage. It can be used in a limited scouting capacity also. Gravity Is good against flying monotype teams.

Other options


Seismitoad @ Air Balloon
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: HP 4 / SpAtk 252 / Spd 252
IVS: 31/xx/30/31/31/31
Timid Nature
- Scald
- Stealth Rock
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power (ICE)
I was using him for when I had to face water types, but I don't know if he is string enough compared to the others to warrant a spot. It is nice against a monotype water to send him out as long as they are packing any grass type. He does hit harder than I thought before I started using him. Also he works off special attack, which is different than most ground types. Scald for water STAB and Earth Power for Ground. Air Ballon allows him to float when I used him in doubles with this team. Open to ideas for different item on him if you think he beats out one of the primary six.

Nidoking @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: HP 4 / SpAtk 252 / Spd 252
IVS: 31/00/12/31/31/31
Timid Nature
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam
- Thuderbolt
- Sludge Wave
Awesome Power, but kind of frail when hit. I like Nidoking, but he didn't seem to be performing as well as I would have liked, so he is the one who got switched for Landorus-T. I have been debating if he would be more useful than flygon now though. I am abusing the life orb +sheer force effect with him to crank up that special attack. Admittedly his defense is lacking, but these are all my in game pokemon, and with him, he wouldn't be taking that many more

Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: HP 244 / Def 40 / Spd 224
IVS: 31/31/31/31/31/31
Impish Nature
- Toxic
- Protect
- Substitute
- Earthquake
I am not the best at using Gliscor, but it is good at stalling. Generally, I prefer more straight offense when battling, but I do have him as an option. I do not personally think he provides a significant advantage over any of my other options in the monotype meta-game though.
 
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ello, I'm not really that big on mono-teams, but I'd just like to point out you have 3 four times Ice weaknesses. Also on Garchomp Fire Blast is usually better, especially if you aren't running any special investment. I'd recommend a Naive nature (or Hasty but I like how the word Naive sounds lol) to further increase its damage. I'd also replace the Soft Sand on Excadrill with a Life Orb or Air Balloon, probably a LO since you have 2 ground immunities. Last on Mamo Focus Sash over Sitrus Berry as well as Oblivious over Thick Fat. Sure Mamoswine has decent bulk, but it's many weaknesses pretty much cancel that out. Oblivious guarantees rocks :]
 
Yes, I have 3 4x Ice weaknesses, but I definitely wouldn't use all 3 of those against an ice monotype.
As i mentioned, I have horrible luck, so I will sacrifice a little power for moves that actually hit if I can.
I will look at Hasty, but Garchomp is usually my best pokemon on this team.
I realize LO will increase Excadrill's power, but when he is at +2, I would rather him keep HP so he can take a hit better. Air Balloon is interesting, I will try it on him to see if it adds anything, but soft sand boosts Earthquake by 20%, so I don't know if I will notice the power drop...
For Mamoswine I feel thick fat is more beneficial than oblivious. If I get taunted I will just attack it. Stealth rock isn't a must for me, just an option. If I do see myself getting taunted and needing more stealth rock, I will look at Oblivious. As for Thick Fat Mamoswine's "many weakness", (x2 water, x2 grass, x2 fighting x2 steel) are nothing crippling. Thick fat gets rid of fire weakness and allows it to resist ice (x.5) that threatens my other strong sweepers. Most of the time my team just laughs at taunt and looks at it as a free turn to hit/kill something. Thank you for your rating, as it allowed me to see some other options I may need in the future.
 
Just to state what should be obvious: you don't have horrible luck. We all have the same luck. If you think you have horrible luck, you may just not be playing the odds efficiently. Building strategies around a belief that your luck is somehow worse than everybody else's is a sure way to end up with a suboptimal strategy.

I agree you should stick with thick fat though. Mamo isn't just faster than people expect, it's bulkier too. Thick fat helps in that regard, particularly against ice.
 
Logically I know that, but I guess it stems from being a risk-aversion individual. I am open to an option that is better than Fire Blast and Flamethrower if you know of one for Garchomp.
I looked up the statistics on Flamethrower vs Fire Blast
http://gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/167598/why-use-stronger-less-accurate-pokémon-attacks


" | Power | Accuracy | "Average" output |
| Flamethrower| 90 | 100% | 92.8125 |
| Fire Blast | 110 | 85% | 96.421875 |


Factoring in that accuracy, your average output is barely 3.5 Base Power higher than that of Flamethrower, and Flamethrower isn't prone to sudden bursts of luck."

How much of a drop is 3.5 BP on Average going to cost me if Flamethrower/Fire Blast is best option?
 
That's more like it -- a proper risk/reward calculation. And I agree -- I rarely run fire blast over flamethrower for that precise reason (plus the PP problem).

The big element you are missing though is whether the extra power nets a OHKO/2HKO. An extra 3.5 base points on average is one thing. But the chance to get a 2HKO you would otherwise have no chance of getting can be priceless.
 
kabbes, do you think Mega Garchomp would benefit more from getting a Swords Dance up as soon as it comes and then hitting stuff, or would keeping the special attack fire move in the back pocket be better in general?
 
What's always a possibility for you Garchomp set is a set geared more towards special attacking, as you team is literally all physical. Common physical walls like Slowbro and Gliscor could literally wreck this team.
Garchomp @ Garchompite
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naughty Nature
- Earthquake
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Stone Edge

Also Gastrodon could be a decent option on this team, as it isnt weak to ice beam and can be ran as a decent special wall. I'd replace Flygon probably, as its basically Garchomp with U-turn (not hating on Fly, its actually my favorite Dragon). Sure you won't be using this team against a mono-ice team, but if someone has an Ice type or even a water type as they often run Ice moves, they basically get a kill everytime they come in. It also walls Rotom-Wash, who otherwise is a massive threat to this team, spamming Wisp's.
 
I agree with Kableye. I used to use Gastrodon on a Monotype (Water) team. It's pretty similar to your Seismitoad, I know, but it may as well be considered. I prefer physically defensive for Water Monotype, but you'll probably do better with more Special Defense on a Ground team. You'll want extra Grass coverage though (maybe Mega Camerupt next month haha). This is what I used:

Gastrodon @ Leftovers
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam
- Recover

You can always use Acid Armor, Amnesia, or Stockpile for a quick stat boost in place of one of these moves. It's nice because it's Special Attack oriented.
 
Dr.FretNot said:
kabbes, do you think Mega Garchomp would benefit more from getting a Swords Dance up as soon as it comes and then hitting stuff, or would keeping the special attack fire move in the back pocket be better in general?
Click to expand...
If you're going Jolly then very few things will stand up better to a SD STAB than a Fire Blast. But standard mega-G doesn't weaken its SpA with its nature. Quite the reverse -- often, it'll be something like naughty. In which case, it's better to have the coverage, I'd say.
 
Just an update if anyone was interested:
Switched out Flygon for seismitoad, and gave the air balloon to excadrill. I gave the soft sand to seismitoad. I ended up keeping my original garchomp, as the hasty and naive didn't take some hits that would have left my garchomp with 1-15 HP. I didn't want naughty, as I prioritize speed.

I won the monotype tournament using this team.
 
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