Monotype Hot Pink | SS Monotype Fairy Team (Peaked #7, 1712 ELO)

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Introduction

Hey to all and everyone who happens to stumble upon this post. I decided to make an RMT of a Gen 8 Monotype team I made a while back and peaked #7 with it and I thought it was a pretty good team. It’s most likely pretty antiquated now with the meta being changed since I had peaked with it, but with my recent usage of it on ladder it still seems manageable, so I wanted to make an RMT before it became completely useless. Perhaps some feedback may come my way so that I can polish this team again, because I really enjoy it. I was proud of myself that it was something that showed some success, especially when I personally dislike laddering quite a bit.

Proof of Peak

The Team

Klefki

Moveset

Rules (Klefki) @ Light Clay
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Spikes
- Foul Play

My initial thoughts with the team that I wanted to make prior to building it was a Fairy Hyper Offense (which albeit I think is a common playstyle on Fairy but I digress), so I started with Klefki. It’s a standard screens/hazards set to allow Mimikyu and Azumarill to setup and sweep without having to be pressured by being killed so easily. It also gives our other three mons some breathing room to have more turns to chip so our breakers can clean up. Spikes is another form of pressure for this team to make sure that the opposing side gets chipped enough for our wincons to clean up late game. Its physical bulk helps to switch in and reset screens on something that would otherwise smack up our other 5 mons on the team. It just generally helps switch into things that wanna Bulk Up or Swords Dance and Klefki can Foul Play it in return like opposing Mimikyu or Aegislash which granted are quite annoying for this team, more-so Aegislash than Mimikyu. Not to mention that Klefki helps keep the team together by allowing longevity to the rest of your team by virtue of dual screens.

Mimikyu

Moveset

Addiction (Mimikyu) @ Life Orb
Ability: Disguise
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Shadow Sneak
- Shadow Claw
- Play Rough

Mimikyu is somewhat of the glue that holds this team together in my opinion. I added Mimikyu to revenge kills against scarfers that would otherwise 6-0 you like Blacephalon and just helps with your Ghost/Psychic matchup in general. You force out many things that will never want to stay in on it or force some sort of prediction game where they may want to prevent you from SDing so they don’t get swept. This may cause them to sack a reliable member of their team, opening up the game for you. Mimikyu helps with Steel and Poison MU’s to a certain degree if you are setup, however in general the mon is weak and its niche here is a revenge killer.

Azumarill

Moveset

Won't Bite (Azumarill) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Belly Drum
- Aqua Jet
- Knock Off
- Substitute

Azumarill’s usage in any tier I feel like is pretty linear, will obviously be a Belly Drum set, and that's what I decided to put on this team. I wanted it to act as a wincon/late game sweep core with Mimikyu, and it does its own job of revenging things that are in Aqua Jet range, which is also helpful for this team. I’m not quite sure myself if Substitute is a common move on Azumarill but I like it to catch things that want to Thunder Wave or Toxic you like Slowbro or Gastrodon (or any utility mon that can’t break your Sub) off guard. This allows for a free Belly Drum into a nice sweep if applicable in the matchup. Azumarill makes your Steel and Poison match up quite manageable if you're able to setup, which is easier said than done. But even getting a few knocks here and there without setting up can accelerate your momentum against both matchups quite a bit. Azumarill also pressures Ground and Fire which can both be troublesome matchups, barring Gastrodon/Seis and Volcanion respectively.

Clefable

Moveset

Hot Pink (Clefable) @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 40 HP / 252 SpA / 216 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Soft-Boiled
- Moonblast
- Flamethrower
- Psychic

Clefable usually would have its niche as a defensive Wish passer or Rocker, but I opted for a more offensive, speedy Life Orb set in this scenario. I find it most optimal as it helps with Steel as you will be outspeeding things with Flamethrower like Aegislash and bulkier Magnezone spreads, and getting rid of Ferrothorn entirely. Fire Blast as a replacement can be applicable here to get more chip on Aegislash but I prefer to not use moves that can miss just to save my own sanity, but the RNG is probably worth the damage you are getting out of it. I personally feel that this set capitalizes on people who do not pick up on the fact that you are offensive Clefable quick enough, which allows you to get some cheeky kills. While it lacks the bulk a regular Clefable has and is pretty limited on the amount of turns it can sit there and dish out damage, the damage it does give out is more than you would expect. Psychic helps with your Poison matchup in getting rid of its defensive core in Weezing/Pex/Amoonguss. On top of that, fire coverage helps immensely against Grass with an opposing Ferrothorn that is incredibly hard to break with this team otherwise.

Tapu Bulu

Moveset

Talk Dirty (Tapu Bulu) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Wood Hammer
- Horn Leech
- Superpower
- Stone Edge

A set that wasn’t too common when I had made this team but however is becoming more common now, is Scarf Bulu. I originally wanted to run Swords Dance but you lack any sort of way to beat large threats against Fire, and you can’t really bait + break (offensive) Zapdos on Electric without it. It's really nice to catch off things like Charizard, Cinderace, and Volcarona with this set although more often than not I end up missing given my stellar luck, but I digress. It also serves as a cushion against Ground as Choice Scarf helps you outspeed Nidoking and buffs your grass STAB with terrain which will end up in some reliable chip or a kill. It also stops that pesky ground stab from messing with Klefki if you need to Foul Play an Excadrill or re-setup screens again. The issue with this however is that it's completely useless in your natural losing matchups and grass because it's never breaking ferro reliably, it only serves its purpose against grass in breaking cradily as they are SpDef oriented. The set is pretty standard, double STAB in case you need that extra base power or would prefer the health regen, superpower for steel (and anything it can hit lol), and Stone Edge for strong coverage against Flying/Fire.

Tapu Koko

Moveset

Streets (Tapu Koko) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch / U-turn
- Grass Knot
- Dazzling Gleam

Last but certainly not least, I added Tapu Koko. Specs Koko acts as a really strong special wallbreaker that in pretty much any neutral matchup will just dominate, and even against Poison once Nidoking + Amoonguss is done with you can pretty much T-bolt spam to win. I find that many teams have a hard time dealing with this and it's always great to get rid of opposing terrain and put up pressure with your own terrain. Like Bulu, it's quite the standard set with just STAB moves + Grass Knot coverage for Ground-types or a midground against Water teams that have things like Swampert or Gastrodon. One thing I do dislike about this set however is that against Flying you have to play the prediction game against Thundurus-Incarnate and Landorus-Therian right otherwise you can lose momentum (and the game) really quickly. I personally don't find replacing Volt Switch for U-turn is that worth just to deal with flying as it's quite good in any other matchup and is terrain boosted, but its replaceable if you having trouble otherwise.

Threat List
​

- Volcarona + Blacephalon pretty much just can sweep this team really easily but it's manageable with Mimikyu threatening Blacephelon out along with Scarf Bulu being able to Stone Edge Volcarona if you are able to catch it before it gets +1 Quiver Dance. Double priority with Aqua Jet and Shadow Sneak can also dismantle Volcarona easily.

- This team unfortunately has limited strong ways to break Flying as Tapu Koko has to play the prediction game against Flying and Celesteela walls just about everything else on this team, still trying to work on it to make this MU more playable. Not an instant loss but definitely difficult and requires some intense play.

Steel + Poison - I don’t think I really need to elaborate much here as they are natural weaknesses, but as replays will show after this section they are not an auto loss.

- Not a huge threat, but sun + Venusaur pretty much invalidates this entire team, otherwise I think the matchup is fine if you can manage it with screens + Mimikyu, granted it is hard to stop prankster Whimsicott from pressing Sunny Day and going Venusaur.

- Not necessarily a threat, but I think it's worth mentioning that Dragon has strong tools to beat this team. Klefki is just absolute setup fodder for Hydreigon + Kyurem (if they are Sub), and Dragalge doesn’t take enough from Clefable's Psychic to really be at risk from LO Psychic unless it's below ~50%.

I feel as if everything else besides these things listed above are fair game for Fairy, I personally find it to be a really strong type and I enjoy using it a lot.

Replays

Fairy vs Poison :

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8monotype-1263918635-9qb7zcifjjjxnvac546x6wn0lvs8u5jpw

Generally want to bank on them leading Nidoking as they will anticipate Klefki lead. Get screens up (or a screen and spike) and play mind games with Mimikyu (although this guy choked by not just using a Poison move on Azumarill)

Fairy vs Poison v2 :

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8monotype-1265242878-d4ewkkeka9fih8lz2l1f2fcb08e20eapw

Played with the same mindset typed above.

Note : Both of those matchups Substitute on Azumarill came in clutch, if that's of any worth to support its place on this Azumarill set.

Fairy vs Fire :

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8monotype-1266216969-jr1r6x0qowhvppejyy5h0q6h2wl36lopw

Pretty much just Koko showing why it's good in neutral matchups ft. Bulu missing edge.

Fairy vs Steel :

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8monotype-1265320097-lziq0y8n7ea83ikg0gyhoexk6znmhorpw

In this replay, I played against a friend for testing purposes so take this replay with a grain of salt. However, I still think it might been worth including, also noting that the opponent did miss a toxic, but at that stage in the game I don't think it mattered.

Fairy vs Flying :

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8monotype-1350668932-sr5xwhli3xei86amd50byufiyrkrtrjpw

Showing how a well played Azumarill can make a harder matchup into a better one, granted there was no Celesteela here.

Conclusion

If you read up to this point, I appreciate it! Any/all feedback on this team is appreciated! If you end up using this team, do let me know how it goes! :D

Pokepaste Importable

https://pokepast.es/0e5b96a9cc85691f

Text Importable

Rules (Klefki) @ Light Clay
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Spikes
- Foul Play

Addiction (Mimikyu) @ Life Orb
Ability: Disguise
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Shadow Sneak
- Shadow Claw
- Play Rough

Won't Bite (Azumarill) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Belly Drum
- Aqua Jet
- Knock Off
- Substitute

Hot Pink (Clefable) @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 40 HP / 252 SpA / 216 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Soft-Boiled
- Moonblast
- Flamethrower
- Psychic

Talk Dirty (Tapu Bulu) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Wood Hammer
- Horn Leech
- Superpower
- Stone Edge

Streets (Tapu Koko) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Grass Knot
- Dazzling Gleam

Random s/o's because why not

Vaboh, Ainzcrad, Seasons, devin, Sensei Axew, thanks for being awesome friends and helping me out when I need it.
Decem For helping me in Monotype in general and also being a cool friend.
And anyone else in the HABANEROS :hippo:

 

[TailGlowVM]

You could consider Close Combat over Superpower on Tapu Bulu to avoid Attack drops, and Life Orb over Choice Specs on Koko (with Roost maybe?) which would be better against Flying teams so that they can't scout around.