Monotype Mono Bug!

[Bobloblaww]

Hey everyone! I wanted to make a monotype team with a type that I think people tend to shun. I appreciate any and all comments as I'm kind of new to Monotype (OU Doubles Main)! Let's get to it!

Galvantula @ Focus Sash
Ability: Compound Eyes
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Electroweb
- Sticky Web
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Thunder

The first 'mon is my trusty Galvantula. I usually lead with this one. Sticky Web support plays a big role in the success of the team. Electroweb can occasionally afford me an extra hit with Galvantula or set a teammate up to revenge kill. HP Ice for coverage. Thunder as the main attacking move; it has 91% accuracy with Compound Eyes. 0 Atk IVs in case of Foul Play.

Armaldo @ Red Card
Ability: Battle Armor
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rock Slide
- Rapid Spin
- Knock Off

Next, we have Armaldo. He's my spinner/ Stealth Rocks setter. Rocks are essential against Flying, Fire, Ice, and other Bug type teams. Red Card usually catches opponents off guard and can provide extra SR damage. Knock Off for utility and Rock Slide as the main STAB move.

Araquanid @ Assault Vest
Ability: Water Bubble
EVs: 200 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 52 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Liquidation
- Scald
- Leech Life
- Mirror Coat

Araquanid is one of my main sweepers, it also is pretty tanky on the special side due to the Assault Vest. Liquidation for STAB. Scald for burn on physical attackers. Leech Life for additional STAB coverage, and Mirror Coat to KO strong special attackers that can't OHKO Araquanid.

252+ SpA Life Orb Raichu-Alola Thunderbolt vs. 200 HP / 0 SpD Assault Vest Araquanid in Electric Terrain: 268-320 (81.9 - 97.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Pinsir @ Pinsirite
Ability: Hyper Cutter
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Frustration
- Close Combat
- Quick Attack
- Swords Dance

Mega Pinsir is my other main physical sweeper. Frustration over Return to beat out Ditto's. Close Combat for coverage. Pretty standard set.

Volcarona @ Firium Z
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Fiery Dance
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Ground] / [Rock]

Volcarona is a strong special attacker, and after a Quiver Dance is extremely fast and has quite a bit of special bulk. Firium Z as a nuke option. It provides an insane amount of damage even against mons that resist it. Fiery Dance over Fire Blast for accuracy and the chance of the SpAtk boost. Giga Drain for the heals and to hit Water types. Lastly, HP Ground to hit Electric types super effectively. I'm considering HP Rock since there seems to be a prevalence of Rotom-H on fire teams.

Buzzwole @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Leech Life
- Superpower
- Ice Punch
- Rock Slide

Buzzwole works well as a revenge killer, especially with Sticky Web. It reaches 423 speed with the scarf so it usually never has an issue being outsped. Previously, I was using Scizor in this slot, but so far have found Buzzwole to fit better into my team and to hit harder. Leech Life and Superpower for STAB. Ice Punch and Rock Slide for coverage.​

 

[Eien]

Hey, this is a pretty good team and welcome to Monotype! I just have a couple optimizations and a suggestion that should help you with some matchups you're probably struggling with right now.

First, Electroweb just doesn't do much for Galvantula. The problem is that Galvantula isn't particularly strong, so even if you were to hit a Pokemon like Latios on the switch-in with Electroweb, Galvantula is still going to be unable to do anything to it. As a result, I think you should use Energy Ball instead of Electroweb. Energy Ball gives you the strong Electric + Grass coverage that pressures Water teams so effectively. In fact, Energy Ball Galvantula is most team's ticket to beating Water, since most Bug teams struggle with Mega Swampert + Toxapex + Mantine defensive cores. In addition to this primary use, Energy Ball even helps cover one of Bug's many weaknesses in Rock.

Second, on Volcarona, definitely use Hidden Power Ground. Its main use is actually to make Steel an actually really good matchup for Bug, which is perhaps a bit counterintuitive. Heatran is the only Pokemon that can take Volcarona's Fire-type STAB moves; if you have Hidden Power Ground, Volcarona can easily KO all Heatran other than specially defensive at +1. Speaking of Fire, I strongly suggest you run Fire Blast over Fiery Dance. The sheer power of Fire Blast is necessary for wallbreaking, and it's even more necessary when considering the Z-Move's damage is dependent on the Base Power of a move. One important target for this is Victini. At +2, Volcarona's Inferno Overdrive can always OHKO it only if it's using Fire Blast. To bring the point home, a +2 Fiery Dance is actually weaker than a +1 Fire Blast. Accuracy is nice, but the damage is far more important.

The last thing is tied in with Volcarona. As mentioned, if you have Hidden Power Ground, Volcarona can sweep Steel. Unfortunately, Steel teams adapted to this by running Air Balloon on Heatran. In turn, I think Bug teams really need to have a Pursuit trapper to pop Heatran's Air Balloon. Without the Air Balloon, the Volcarona strategy works. For the sake of Pursuit, I would suggest using Choice Band Scizor over Araquanid. With physically defensive Armaldo, you really aren't that scared of Victini and can afford to drop Araquanid. In its place, you get the Pursuit trapper as mentioned, but you also get priority in Bullet Punch, a U-turn pivot, and an all-around strong wallbreaker. Araquanid only seriously helps you against particularly Fire-types, while Scizor would really help you in not just the Steel matchup, but others too. Right now, I think your team probably has a hard time with Fairy teams, and Scizor would really help in that matchup with Bullet Punch OHKOing or 2HKOing literally the whole team other than Klefki. It also helps you against Psychic teams, which I think you might also be having trouble with, since Victini isn't threatened by anything on your team; Scizor can easily Pursuit trap Victini for you. Don't forget its Steel typing's defensive utility! Scizor is pretty much the only way your team will be able to handle Choice Scarf Nihilego's Power Gem spam on Poison teams. In summary, we do weaken the Fire matchup, but we've reinforced many others in its stead.

I hope that helps and good luck with the team!

sets

Galvantula @ Focus Sash
Ability: Compound Eyes
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Energy Ball
- Sticky Web
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Thunder

Volcarona @ Firium Z
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Fire Blast
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Ground]

Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Pursuit
- U-turn
- Superpower