Metagame Monocolor

[zastra]

approved by dhelmise and a fairy

amazing art by SilverSlime​

Monocolor has a simple premise: It is a metagame where each team must consist of Pokemon that all share the same official Pokedex color. The list of all Pokemon sorted by their color can be found here: https://m.bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/List_of_Pokémon_by_color (Look at HOME color—that's the one PS Dex uses)

Banlist and Ruleset:

Banlist

Annihilape, Arceus, Baxcalibur, Calyrex-Ice, Chi-Yu, Chien-Pao, Deoxys, Dialga, Espathra, Eternatus, Flutter Mane, Giratina, Gouging Fire, Groudon, Ho-Oh, Iron Bundle, Koraidon, Kyogre, Kyurem-Black, Kyurem-White, Landorus, Lugia, Lunala, Magearna, Mewtwo, Miraidon, Necrozma-Dawn-Wings, Necrozma-Dusk-Mane, Ogerpon-Hearthflame, Ogerpon-Wellspring, Palafin, Palkia, Rayquaza, Regieleki, Reshiram, Shaymin-Sky, Sneasler, Solgaleo, Spectrier, Terapagos, Ursaluna-Bloodmoon, Urshifu, Zacian, Zamazenta-Crowned, Zekrom

Ruleset & Clauses

Standard Ruleset:
Obtainable, Team Preview, Sleep Moves Clause, Species Clause, Nickname Clause, OHKO Clause, Evasion Items Clause, Evasion Moves Clause, Endless Battle Clause, HP Percentage Mod, Cancel Mod, Min Source Gen = 9

TL;DR OU-based; Archaludon and Volcarona unbanned; Ogerpon-Wellspring banned; Standard Ruleset

Challenge Code
Use this command (in PMs) to challenge others to monocolor:

/challenge gen9ou@@@+Archaludon, +Volcarona, -Ogerpon-Wellspring, Same Color Clause

Useful PS! commands for teambuilding:
Use the command below to check for Pokemon of a particular color!
/ds <color>, <parameter>, (<parameter>)

for example, /ds red, all, fe will give me all FE Red Pokemon.

Similarly, using /dt <Pokemon> displays the color of a particular Pokemon.

Strategy

• Blue has access to great offense staples in Glimmora, Ninetales-A, and Samurott-H. Iron Crown, Walking Wake, and Garchomp are the star Pokemon, taking full advantage of the support and options available.
• Brown offers a wide range defensive options in Garganacl, Ting-Lu, and Landorus-T as well as a crucial offensive presence in Dragonite. Similarly, purple too gets access to amazing defensive/utility options and hazard control in Great Tusk, Corviknight, Pecharunt, and Gliscor.
• Fan of Big Stall? Use Pink! Blissey, Alomomola, Clefable, Hatterene, Slowking-G, Milotic, Tinkaton... you have it all.

and more, come explore!

FAQs
Q: What about different formes of the same Pokemon?
A: They may be of different colors. For instance, Ninetales is yellow, but Alolan Ninetales is blue.

Q: Is Terastallization legal?
A: Yes.

Q: Why are Archaludon and Volcarona unbanned?
A: Archaludon has no easy way to take advantage of its signature Electro Shot, as White doesn't have much support to offer to Archaludon. Volcarona, similarly, is kind of held back on White, though it's quite a controversial Pokemon. These bans took place before Monocolor was a UM—when it was a solomod. The council will keep an eye on these two to see if they're banworthy.

Resources:

Monocolor Discord Server
More TBA

Tiering Council:
zastra (Tier Leader)
Clas (Tier Leader)
Mincera31
Murphy Lawden
Dorron
Heatranator

VR Council:
OceanicGamer
SilverSlime
duckycrater

Legend:
scionicle

​

Tiering & Important Happenings Log​

TBA​

 

[zastra]

Sample teams

Red

https://pokepast.es/34c217f7dfd892cd Rotom-Wash Offense by Heatranator

https://pokepast.es/935367a09e2e34c9 Howl Zamazenta Screens by zastra

Blue

https://pokepast.es/b0c18af36a15e4cb Gyarados HO by Dorron

https://pokepast.es/16496650edce1524 Manaphy HO by zastra

Yellow

https://pokepast.es/c632e4a7486f969c Haxorus Webs by duckycrater

https://pokepast.es/74e2a1a3041e23d4 Keldeo HStack by Heatranator

https://pokepast.es/1bff4063763135b4 Raging Bolt Sun by zastra

Green

https://pokepast.es/5e70c74d8ed6d36c CB Dragapult Balance by Dorron

https://pokepast.es/2e69a8e191cc758c Green Rain by Heatranator

https://pokepast.es/8e0fa4a2a59db072 NP Tornadus Grassy Terrain by zastra

Black

https://pokepast.es/60ab34582375f9c5 Coalossal HO by duckycrater

https://pokepast.es/54d055672267267a LO Darkrai Offense by zastra

Brown

https://pokepast.es/a4bf1db5b01d8d2b DD Dragonite Balance by Dorron

https://pokepast.es/631a785eabd246b1 Dual Espeed Balance by zastra

Purple

https://pokepast.es/e9d4624204c23615 Specs Hoopa Balance by Dorron

https://pokepast.es/3cb035d7ecca88b3 CB Great Tusk Fat by Dorron

https://pokepast.es/1ea6dfd73624e5cc Ceruledge Fat by zastra

Gray

https://pokepast.es/cf9b569782a9f662 CB Lokix BO by duckycrater

https://pokepast.es/18a5cd36e31d38d7 DD Kyurem Screens by zastra

White

https://pokepast.es/a84a3317fc2fde32 Slither Wing Webs by duckycrater

https://pokepast.es/4c722a231920bf1d Power Herb Archaludon Veils by zastra

Pink

https://pokepast.es/51c1dc2bb944183f Enamorus Semi-Stall by duckycrater

https://pokepast.es/5dd20080c3b17d4f Tinkaton Stall by zastra

 

[zastra]

Viability Rankings
(Last Updated 5 Feb, 2025)

Red

◆ S Rank ◆​

Reserved for Pokemon that are absolutely meta-defining. These Pokemon are able to perform a variety of roles very effectively, or can just do one extremely well. Their use has low risk involved and high reward exerted. Pokemon in this rank have very few flaws that are patched up by numerous positive traits.
​

S
Zamazenta

S-
Deoxys-Speed

​

★★★ A Rank ★★★​

Reserved for Pokemon that perform extremely well in the metagame. These Pokemon are typically considered excellent Pokemon let down by a few faults, thus keeping them out of S Rank. They typically require more support than an S Rank Pokemon, but nonetheless are very effective.​

A+
Latias
Scizor

A
Rotom-Wash
Skeledirge

A-
Blaziken
Moltres-Galar

​

★★ B Rank ★★​

B Rank Pokemon are typically considered good, but overall quite niche, and require much more support than a Pokemon in A or S Rank. Their flaws are also much more prominent than Pokemon in S or A Rank, making them less effective overall​

B+
Krookodile

B
Deoxys-Defense
Rotom-Heat
Rotom-Mow

B-
Armarouge
Crawdaunt
Incineroar
Porygon-Z
Porygon2
Talonflame

​

★ C Rank ★​

C Rank Pokemon are generally mediocre in the metagame. They typically require much more support than Pokemon higher up the viability rankings, although they can still be effective in the right circumstances.​

C+
Tatsugiri

C
Electrode-Hisui
Minior

C-
Braviary
Delphox
Kricketune
Magmortar
Oricorio
Scrafty
Vileplume

​

Blue

◆ S Rank ◆​

Reserved for Pokemon that are absolutely meta-defining. These Pokemon are able to perform a variety of roles very effectively, or can just do one extremely well. Their use has low risk involved and high reward exerted. Pokemon in this rank have very few flaws that are patched up by numerous positive traits.​

S-
Garchomp

​

★★★ A Rank ★★★​

Reserved for Pokemon that perform extremely well in the metagame. These Pokemon are typically considered excellent Pokemon let down by a few faults, thus keeping them out of S Rank. They typically require more support than an S Rank Pokemon, but nonetheless are very effective.
​

A+
Glimmora
Iron Crown
Latios
Manaphy
Ninetales-Alola
Primarina
Samurott-Hisui

A
Dondozo
Greninja
Thundurus-Therian
Toxapex
Walking Wake

A-
Azumarill

★★ B Rank ★★​

B Rank Pokemon are typically considered good, but overall quite niche, and require much more support than a Pokemon in A or S Rank. Their flaws are also much more prominent than Pokemon in S or A Rank, making them less effective overall​

B+
Hydreigon
Gyarados
Thundurus
Quaquaval

B
Azelf
Empoleon
Metagross

B-
Lucario
Masquerain
Suicune
Vaporeon

​

★ C Rank ★​

C Rank Pokemon are generally mediocre in the metagame. They typically require much more support than Pokemon higher up the viability rankings, although they can still be effective in the right circumstances.
​

C+
Altaria
Articuno
Cobalion
Iron-Jugulis
Salamence
Quagsire

C
Avalugg
Blastoise
Heracross
Sandslash-Alola
Swampert

C-
Eelektross
Feraligatr
Kingdra
Lanturn
Meowstic
Persian-Alola
Toxicroak
Vikavolt

​

Yellow

◆ S Rank ◆​

Reserved for Pokemon that are absolutely meta-defining. These Pokemon are able to perform a variety of roles very effectively, or can just do one extremely well. Their use has low risk involved and high reward exerted. Pokemon in this rank have very few flaws that are patched up by numerous positive traits.
​

S
Gholdengo
Raging Bolt

​

★★★ A Rank ★★★​

Reserved for Pokemon that perform extremely well in the metagame. These Pokemon are typically considered excellent Pokemon let down by a few faults, thus keeping them out of S Rank. They typically require more support than an S Rank Pokemon, but nonetheless are very effective.
​

A+
Keldeo
Moltres

A
Mimikyu

A-
Zapdos-Galar

​

★★ B Rank ★★​

B Rank Pokemon are typically considered good, but overall quite niche, and require much more support than a Pokemon in A or S Rank. Their flaws are also much more prominent than Pokemon in S or A Rank, making them less effective overall​

B+
Cresselia
Haxorus
Jirachi
Ribombee
Sandslash
Uxie

B
Pawmot
Pelipper

B-
Ninetales

​

★ C Rank ★​

C Rank Pokemon are generally mediocre in the metagame. They typically require much more support than Pokemon higher up the viability rankings, although they can still be effective in the right circumstances.​

C+
Typhlosion-Hisui

C
Dudunsparce
Galvantula
Kilowattrel
Oricorio-Pom-Pom
Raikou

C-
Exeggutor-Alola
Jolteon
Leavanny
Morpeko
Typhlosion
Vespiquen

Green

◆ S Rank ◆​

Reserved for Pokemon that are absolutely meta-defining. These Pokemon are able to perform a variety of roles very effectively, or can just do one extremely well. Their use has low risk involved and high reward exerted. Pokemon in this rank have very few flaws that are patched up by numerous positive traits.​

S
Dragapult
Rillaboom

​

★★★ A Rank ★★★​

Reserved for Pokemon that perform extremely well in the metagame. These Pokemon are typically considered excellent Pokemon let down by a few faults, thus keeping them out of S Rank. They typically require more support than an S Rank Pokemon, but nonetheless are very effective.
​

A+
Hawlucha
Tornadus-Therian
Tyranitar

A
Hydrapple
Serperior

A-
Meowscarada
Sinistcha

​

★★ B Rank ★★​

B Rank Pokemon are typically considered good, but overall quite niche, and require much more support than a Pokemon in A or S Rank. Their flaws are also much more prominent than Pokemon in S or A Rank, making them less effective overall
​

B+
Bronzong
Lilligant-Hisui
Ogerpon
Muk-Alola
Reuniclus

B
Araquanid
Basculegion
Basculegion-F
Chesnaught
Comfey
Cyclizar
Politoed

B-
Breloom
Iron Leaves

​

★ C Rank ★​

C Rank Pokemon are generally mediocre in the metagame. They typically require much more support than Pokemon higher up the viability rankings, although they can still be effective in the right circumstances.​

C+
Bellibolt
Flygon
Regidrago

C
Copperajah
Drednaw
Ludicolo
Tornadus
Torterra
Yanmega

C-
Arboliva
Bellossom
Iron-Thorns
Sandaconda
Spidops
Venusaur
Whimsicott
Shaymin
Virizion

Black

◆ S Rank ◆​

Reserved for Pokemon that are absolutely meta-defining. These Pokemon are able to perform a variety of roles very effectively, or can just do one extremely well. Their use has low risk involved and high reward exerted. Pokemon in this rank have very few flaws that are patched up by numerous positive traits.
​

S
Darkrai
Kingambit

S-
Weavile

​

★★★ A Rank ★★★​

Reserved for Pokemon that perform extremely well in the metagame. These Pokemon are typically considered excellent Pokemon let down by a few faults, thus keeping them out of S Rank. They typically require more support than an S Rank Pokemon, but nonetheless are very effective.​

A+
Fezandipiti

A
Necrozma
Okidogi

A-
Zarude

​

★★ B Rank ★★​

B Rank Pokemon are typically considered good, but overall quite niche, and require much more support than a Pokemon in A or S Rank. Their flaws are also much more prominent than Pokemon in S or A Rank, making them less effective overall​

B+
Toedscruel

B
Tauros-Paldea-Aqua
Tauros-Paldea-Blaze
Umbreon

B-
Munkidori
Salazzle
Snorlax

​

★ C Rank ★​

C Rank Pokemon are generally mediocre in the metagame. They typically require much more support than Pokemon higher up the viability rankings, although they can still be effective in the right circumstances.​

C+
Coalossal

C
Chandelure
Overqwil

C-
Vivillon-Fancy

​

Brown

◆ S Rank ◆​

Reserved for Pokemon that are absolutely meta-defining. These Pokemon are able to perform a variety of roles very effectively, or can just do one extremely well. Their use has low risk involved and high reward exerted. Pokemon in this rank have very few flaws that are patched up by numerous positive traits.​

S
Dragonite

S-
Ting-Lu

​

★★★ A Rank ★★★​

Reserved for Pokemon that perform extremely well in the metagame. These Pokemon are typically considered excellent Pokemon let down by a few faults, thus keeping them out of S Rank. They typically require more support than an S Rank Pokemon, but nonetheless are very effective.​

A+
Garganacl
Heatran

A
Landorus-Therian
Mandibuzz

A-
Arcanine-Hisui

​

★★ B Rank ★★​

B Rank Pokemon are typically considered good, but overall quite niche, and require much more support than a Pokemon in A or S Rank. Their flaws are also much more prominent than Pokemon in S or A Rank, making them less effective overall​

B+
Clodsire
Conkeldurr
Decidueye-Hisui
Ursaluna
Volcanion

B
Barraskewda
Brambleghast
Hippowdon
Mamoswine
Wo-Chien

B-
Kleavor
Lycanroc
Palossand
Torkoal

​

★ C Rank ★​

C Rank Pokemon are generally mediocre in the metagame. They typically require much more support than Pokemon higher up the viability rankings, although they can still be effective in the right circumstances.
​

C+
Infernape
Dragalge
Entei

C
Decidueye
Floatzel
Staraptor

C-
Arcanine
Dachsbun
Farigiraf
Hariyama
Mudsdale
Raichu-Alola
Slaking
Trevenant

​

Purple

◆ S Rank ◆​

Reserved for Pokemon that are absolutely meta-defining. These Pokemon are able to perform a variety of roles very effectively, or can just do one extremely well. Their use has low risk involved and high reward exerted. Pokemon in this rank have very few flaws that are patched up by numerous positive traits.
​

S
Gliscor
Great Tusk

​

★★★ A Rank ★★★​

Reserved for Pokemon that perform extremely well in the metagame. These Pokemon are typically considered excellent Pokemon let down by a few faults, thus keeping them out of S Rank. They typically require more support than an S Rank Pokemon, but nonetheless are very effective.​

A+
Ceruledge
Corviknight
Pecharunt

A
Goodra-Hisui
Hoopa-Unbound

A-
Cloyster

​

★★ B Rank ★★​

B Rank Pokemon are typically considered good, but overall quite niche, and require much more support than a Pokemon in A or S Rank. Their flaws are also much more prominent than Pokemon in S or A Rank, making them less effective overall​

B+
Polteageist

B
Ditto
Gastrodon
Mienshao

B-
Espeon
Grimmsnarl

​

★ C Rank ★​

C Rank Pokemon are generally mediocre in the metagame. They typically require much more support than Pokemon higher up the viability rankings, although they can still be effective in the right circumstances.​

C+
Articuno-Galar
Gengar
Noivern
Toxtricity
Tsareena

C
Forretress
Goodra
Indeedee
Oricorio-Sensu
Sableye
Venomoth

C-
Ambipom
Mismagius
Muk
Skuntank

​

Gray

◆ S Rank ◆​

Reserved for Pokemon that are absolutely meta-defining. These Pokemon are able to perform a variety of roles very effectively, or can just do one extremely well. Their use has low risk involved and high reward exerted. Pokemon in this rank have very few flaws that are patched up by numerous positive traits.
​

S
Kyurem

S-
Iron Hands
Iron Treads
Ogerpon-Cornerstone

​

★★★ A Rank ★★★​

Reserved for Pokemon that perform extremely well in the metagame. These Pokemon are typically considered excellent Pokemon let down by a few faults, thus keeping them out of S Rank. They typically require more support than an S Rank Pokemon, but nonetheless are very effective.​

A+
Iron Boulder
Lokix
Skarmory
Weezing-Galar

A
Kommo-o

A-
Sandy Shocks

​

★★ B Rank ★★​

B Rank Pokemon are typically considered good, but overall quite niche, and require much more support than a Pokemon in A or S Rank. Their flaws are also much more prominent than Pokemon in S or A Rank, making them less effective overall​

B+
Excadrill
Zoroark-Hisui

B
Klefki

B-
Cinccino
Magnezone

​

★ C Rank ★​

C Rank Pokemon are generally mediocre in the metagame. They typically require much more support than Pokemon higher up the viability rankings, although they can still be effective in the right circumstances.
​

C+
Grafaiai
Mabosstiff
Revavroom

C
Donphan
Qwilfish
Registeel
Sneasel-Hisui
Terrakion
Zoroark

C-
Carbink
Rhyperior
Veluza

​

White

◆ S Rank ◆​

Reserved for Pokemon that are absolutely meta-defining. These Pokemon are able to perform a variety of roles very effectively, or can just do one extremely well. Their use has low risk involved and high reward exerted. Pokemon in this rank have very few flaws that are patched up by numerous positive traits.
​

S
Iron Valiant
Volcarona

​

★★★ A Rank ★★★​

Reserved for Pokemon that perform extremely well in the metagame. These Pokemon are typically considered excellent Pokemon let down by a few faults, thus keeping them out of S Rank. They typically require more support than an S Rank Pokemon, but nonetheless are very effective.
​

A+
Cinderace

A
Archaludon
Iron Moth

A-
Amoonguss

​

★★ B Rank ★★​

B Rank Pokemon are typically considered good, but overall quite niche, and require much more support than a Pokemon in A or S Rank. Their flaws are also much more prominent than Pokemon in S or A Rank, making them less effective overall
​

B+
Abomasnow
Maushold
Slither Wing

B
Smeargle

B-
Meloetta

​

★ C Rank ★​

C Rank Pokemon are generally mediocre in the metagame. They typically require much more support than Pokemon higher up the viability rankings, although they can still be effective in the right circumstances.
​

C+
Braviary-Hisui
Florges
Froslass
Gallade
Gardevoir
Houndstone

C
Bombirdier
Brute Bonnet
Cetitan
Frosmoth
Vivillon

C-
Alcremie
Glastrier
Passimian
Zangoose

​

Pink

◆ S Rank ◆​

Reserved for Pokemon that are absolutely meta-defining. These Pokemon are able to perform a variety of roles very effectively, or can just do one extremely well. Their use has low risk involved and high reward exerted. Pokemon in this rank have very few flaws that are patched up by numerous positive traits.​

S
Enamorus

S-
Clefable

​

★★★ A Rank ★★★​

Reserved for Pokemon that perform extremely well in the metagame. These Pokemon are typically considered excellent Pokemon let down by a few faults, thus keeping them out of S Rank. They typically require more support than an S Rank Pokemon, but nonetheless are very effective.​

A+
Alomomola
Blissey
Hatterene
Slowking-Galar

A
Tinkaton

A-

Slowking

​

★★ B Rank ★★​

B Rank Pokemon are typically considered good, but overall quite niche, and require much more support than a Pokemon in A or S Rank. Their flaws are also much more prominent than Pokemon in S or A Rank, making them less effective overall​

B+
Mew
Milotic
Slowbro
Sylveon

B
Diancie
Scream Tail
Flamigo

B-
Slowbro-Galar

​

★ C Rank ★​

C Rank Pokemon are generally mediocre in the metagame. They typically require much more support than Pokemon higher up the viability rankings, although they can still be effective in the right circumstances.
​

C+
Bruxish

C
Lurantis
Mesprit
Orthworm

C-
Oricorio-Pau

 

[sheepie]

this um seems really fun, a lot of potential for interesting stuff. I threw this yellow webs team together in 5 minutes but will explore this more over time. https://pokepast.es/32c19532457a34a2

 

[Velcroc]

RISE UP DORMANT MONOCOLOR WARRIORS

 

[Kizaco]

I feel like white is going to be pretty broken just bc so much of the dex is white

 

[Kizaco]

I feel like white is going to be pretty broken just bc so much of the dex is white

Nvm, just checked and it is not the majority, still has some solid options esp with Volc being unbanned

 

[zastra]

sharing 5 teams for 5 colors (rest later maybe im lazy). feel free to tweak sets etc


screens deo + 5 setup. double dance duo of latias + gmolt can win games. triple LO for max dmg output.


i like this team. chose scarf hamu bc team would be quite slow otherwise, though sash/something else is viable too. mbeam glimm is funny and ensures team is not passive. oger, lati, mana are the main setup guys


ninetales + solar beam bolt duo is fire. if bolt gets too low cuz of LO you always have the option hwish it to full health


i wanted to build a rilla lucha comfey team but i was bored of taking the HO route. instead went ahead with specs pult + band rilla. ttar is the rocker and main fire answer. NP apple + torn is a nice regen breaking core, tb fairy torn is amazing. sinist wins games too


black doesnt rly have many good options, but rai + gambit is big. the gambit is tb fairy so my other darks (rai and weav) ideally shouldnt rely on tera to break. NP LO rai + CB weav looked perfect. the rest of the team is just cplay vs fightings/fairies, tho cmsp necro should be a pretty good wincon

 

[OceanicGamer]

screens deo + 5 setup. double dance duo of latias + gmolt can win games. triple LO for max dmg output.

I might need to kill you, 5 of these mons are on the team I beat you with

 

[RL]

Tier sounds really fun, tried to build a few teams



Someone had to do it...



On another note white sounds pretty good, screen availability, Valiant and Moth great coverage should be pretty good in such a format

I bet light clay is gonna be the next ban, screens seems very hard to play against

 

[qbking3]

Glad this is getting some traction I've always thought it could be a cool format

 

[Dorron]

Enjoying the tier a lot, but I'm quite surprised there's no format in the builder and no release tournament to promote the tier.

 

[Makaney]

Sounds interesting wish I could ladder it hopefully in a couple of years it can be umpl and umfl

 

[Makaney]

View attachment 774223

Enjoying the tier a lot, but I'm quite surprised there's no format in the builder and no release tournament to promote the tier.

Pretty sure there is

 

[AM]

played the monocolor tour, pretty interesting meta actually kind of fun looking forward to next tour of it either indi or team. I'd consider banning light clay if we're not going to ban things like Manaphy or force people to run colors that allow Pult to be loaded to bypass these screens. Granted I loaded mostly Zastras stuff above and some of the samples like the green but screens makes things more matchup fishy on top of tera. I don't mind tera too much even if it can feel a bit cheap/cop out at times but I do think screens is a bit too strong because the colors that have access to them have some very strong mons in their own right (red/blue zastra pastes above are just two examples).

 

[Heatranator]

Well, it sucks to go out in finals, but I still had a pretty enjoyable time in the tier. I joined the tier after duckycrater convinced me to sub in last minute, but then got really invested lol (btw, massive shoutouts to them for helping me test and build). Going to be dropping my VRs, teams, and meta thoughts.

Colour Tier List
S: Brown, Yellow, Blue
A: Green, Red
B: White, Purple, Gray
C: Black
D: Pink

S rank: These three types I think are the absolute best, if you load these three, then you prob have a pretty good shot of winning. Brown is the best since it has a good mix of offense and defense, and isn't even really lacking in speed control due to having plenty of priority. Yellow is the next best, but it is a very close competition between it and brown. Also has a good combo of offense and defense, though does lack some things like good grounds. Blue is definetely the third, as it is lacking a bit in defensive options, but more then makes up for it in roaring offense, and if you try, then defensive playstyles are def doable and can work well.

A rank: These next two types are pretty good, though a step down from the top three. You can def do well with these, but they require a lot more careful building. Green is sneakily good, and I frankly think a lot of the builds that people use are bad because they overstack defensive typings (like having 5 ice weaks+ttar and just generally lacking in defensive synergy) or try to go full throttle offense with it, which is not horrible but a more bulky offense route is a lot better. Has lackluster grounds but those can be overcome through careful building. Red is weird, great mons but some of them don't mesh well. Still though, I think this is better then the below types as its pretty great against offense/can be great offensively, but if there was an A-/B+ it would be there.

B rank: These three types are okay, but they do lack in one or two areas to make them incredibly consistent. You can def make them work, but be warned that you will have trouble. White has some very great offensive Pokemon, but suffers from type overlap and the fact that you can't really support them as great as you want. Screens+hazard removal is pretty good and there are a few decent defensive pivots, but its not something I would constantly bring. Purple has some great mons, but lack in some crucial areas and type overlap. It can be decent defensively, just don't use screens, those are ass. Grimmsnarl is as high as it is due to being an alright support mon in its own right. Gray honestly was on the cusp of dropping, but I think its a decent bit better then the color below it. Has some pretty great mons but suffers from their types overlapping and the speed control options being awkward to fit onto a team. Still, you can run really greedy structures due to the amount of rock weak mons and the surprisingly good removers on this.

C rank: This tier has only one type, black. Theres some good ass mons in this type, the issue is that there is a lot of overlap and there lacking some crucial typings. When you have to rely on toedscruel for hazard removal and volt immune, you can tell its dire. Still, if you really try and use some cool techs, this can be overcome and it can win some games.

D rank: The only type I would actively discourage using. Pink looks good on the service, great defensive mons and some okay offensive ones. The issue is that the defense starts to fall apart when you look closer. The walls overlap quite a bit defensively, meaning that any good team should be able to exploit that, while the offensive mons are very much limited, especially since you can't really fit as many as you want without leaving massive defensive holes and tempo issues. If you really try, maybe this works, but you are saving your brain from hurting by using another type.

Brown

S:
A:
B:
C:
D:

Yellow

S:
A:
B:
C:
D:

Blue

S:
A:
B:
C:
D:

Green

S:
A:
B:
C:
D:

Red

S:
A:
B:
C:
D:

White

S:
A:
B:
C:
D:

Purple

S:
A:
B:
C:
D:

Gray

S:
A:
B:
C:
D:

Black

S:
A:
B:
C:
D:

Pink

S:
A:
B:
C:
D:

Now onto controversial elements in the tier:

Wow, surprise surprise, waterpon is broken in a tier!!!! Yeah, prepping for waterpon feels bullshit, for certain colours you either have to use incredibly bad structures that suck into any non waterpon team or just pray that you can out offense them (it will not be possible). Ban this thing, its a massive pain both in builder and in game.

Another broken mon, if you don't use brown or gray, get ready to be fucked. Seriously, if you don't have one of these mons you have to probably sack 2 or more mons to this thing when it innevitably clicks tera, which will set you back a ton when very dangerous mons are in the back. Although its not as problematic as waterpon, I think banning it would be right for the health of the tier.

Despite the fact I lost two games to this in finals (first one was due to me not calcing ngl), IDT screens are broken. The only broken mon behind screens is waterpon and as highlighted, I think thats a waterpon issue. Purple screens is ass, red screens is 'okay' and really only blue screens is even remotely problematic, and again, banning waterpon alleviates that a ton.

Going to lump these two together since they both are the main unbans, these are both fine. Archaludon is unable to be supported enough to be broken on white, and is infact a pretty underwhelming mon, though not bad by any means. Volcarona can potentially sweep without a moments notice, but its also held back quite a bit by the lackluster support options on white. Both are good and elevate an otherwise okay typing.

Next, my builder:

https://pokepast.es/188d3f27c67c98e1 Houndstone White
https://pokepast.es/74e2a1a3041e23d4 Sandslash+Uxie Yellow
https://pokepast.es/e255e8d75cba34f1 Porygon-Z Red
https://pokepast.es/874d4dd6c775bf88 Snorlax Black
https://pokepast.es/fe6c5c8c1be97138 Barraskewda Brown
https://pokepast.es/2e69a8e191cc758c Rain Green
https://pokepast.es/c8d2da415d9c3512 Primarina Blue
https://pokepast.es/3ccf7e245e4c22c4 Lokix Gray
https://pokepast.es/5de173b910ebd79a Forretress Purple
https://pokepast.es/5583210b452aadf1 Fezandipiti Black
https://pokepast.es/e96b1df672047806 AV Torn Green
https://pokepast.es/4f45eeb55b937968 Grafaiai Gray
https://pokepast.es/34c217f7dfd892cd Scarf Washtom Red
https://pokepast.es/08c9ae44a863aa0f Heatproof Zong Green
https://pokepast.es/2e1a3cea47f8929a Dewgong White
https://pokepast.es/0d5ae6f05a0d64ac Incineroar Red
https://pokepast.es/1e0c91254b759e44 Scarf Serp Green
https://pokepast.es/fe4ff70b52b88f8d Toxapex Blue

Finally, some thoughts on the meta:

HO is certainly a good playstyle, but I think people heavily underrate balance/BO, as those are a lot more effective. Something like ting lu vs screens HO is actually a massacre and its not even funny. Half my battles were vs HO, so I can say this opinion with strong confidence.

I think aside from the bottom two colours, theres a lot of diversity in the builder. For example, on yellow I used both sandslash and uxie, two otherwise underwhelming Pokemon, and they worked pretty great both in tests and in tour. While slapping on the same 6 mons is appealing, it isn't necessarily the best thing always.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE BAN WATERPON. I can't stress this enough because I really do think it is making the tier much worse then it could be, me slapping on 3 dragons for some builds is not conductive to good building.

 

[Dorron]

I'll take Heatranator's post to make one myself, starting with the VR

Colour Tier List
S: Brown, Yellow, Blue
A: Green, Red
B: White, Purple, Gray
C: Black
D: Pink

Dorron Tier List
S: Brown, Blue
Yellow: Yellow
A: Green, Red, Purple
B: Gray
C: White, Black
Pink: Pink

Even though I'm not Brown's best soldier, I know how powerful it is when built properly. Blue has way more options to build than Yellow and feels way less punishing to stack Water-types compared to Electric-types. I don't agree with Blue lacking defensive options, you have Toxapex, Defensive Chomp, Intimidate Salamence, Articuno, AV Crown more less, Dondozo, Gastrodon-East, Quagsire, and even Avalugg. I get that most of these are Water-types, but you can definitely make teams that do really well with some of these. When building Yellow, I really struggle to make teams that don't repeat 4/5 Pokemon. I don't know what to think about Yellow. It feels right but at the same time not. I'm not ranking it over A or under S, it's simply higher than most other types but idk where to place it.

Green and Red are properly ranked. Personally I don't like Red but that's a me thing. Purple however is solid A tier and maybe even above Red. There are no easy ways to punish Purple teams which can range from fat ass teams with Great Tusk and Gliscor (+ Corvi Pecharunt Ditto Gastrodon Hoodra...) to Hyper Offense teams with Great Tusk and Gliscor (+ Cloyster Polteageist Ceruledge...). The only mons that really punish slower Purple teams with ease are Waterpon who forces Tera and Kyurem, which is played on Gray thus not being that common. Plus you have Ditto to punish opposing threats. I've found myself actually solving hard matchups with an early Tera that doesn't compromise my game given how confident I feel playing with Purple teams. I agree with Green not being built properly in the tour. Most HO teams I've seen are decent at most but it absolutely is great.

I like Gray too. Both Klefki Screens and Balance with Weezing-G and Defensive Kommo-o. It's strange how all these mons look so different from each other but with relatively same roles at the same time (most Gray mons are physical attackers), but you can also fit them together and have a good team. Treads could seriously be a top 3 Pokemon in the tier when played properly.

I despise White. Feels like cheap HO fish with Volcarona Tera or Balance which guarantees you losing the game. Having Volcarona is enough for me not to put it in D tier, because the mons White has are just so hard to fit together. Black, even if it has extreme limitations on type and role diversity, can have good results if you use the Dark-type spam to your advantage. I wouldn't recommend running it to anyone trying to win consistently tho.

Pink is not a top Type. It's in the lower half. But it can fish some games stalling. I'm not ranking it below White and Black, but I don't know where to place it. I happen not to have played any games with Pink stall, and Pink HO is not reliable enough imo.

Highlight mons of top colours: cuz im lazy to do more

Brown:

These are the best by far. Specially Dragonite. Without Dragonite the type could perfectly drop a tier or two. There's no way to make a Brown team without Dragonite. Volcanion is almost mandatory thanks to Water Absorb given the only other relevant decently bulky Water resist is Dragonite itself which hates Ice coverage and Scald burns.

I've tried this guy as my defogger and it works really well, thanks to Scrappy allowing it to run Triple Arrows as its only attack and U-turn to pivot around. It helps with non Play Rough versions of Waterpon.


Blue

Ogerpon needs no introduction. Glimmora can be both a HO lead or a sweeper with Meteor Beam sets that catch many teams off guard in this meta. Bold Primarina can sweep a lot of teams with good positioning. Calm Mind Latios with Covert Cloak is very strong too, using Tera Steel to sweep most of the teams that don't prepare for it. Iron Crown is a good choice to sweep in early/mid game on HO teams to help other teammates, while it also checks a lot of stuff with its AV set. Garchomp has STAB Earthquake, sets up hazards, has phazing, good Speed tier and is the only Electric immunity that isn't a Water-type... Or is it?

This guy rocks, both as a Scarfer and NP Tera Blast with Boots. The former takes advantage of many types lacking decent Ground types while the latter hits very hard and Tera Fairy makes Raging Bolt, the main threat for Blue teams, and many other set up fodder. It's also a Ground immunity not hit hard by the most common Tusk moves, unlike Latios and Hydreigon. On top of that, it's the only viable Electric type for Blue unless you run webs Vikavolt or sth like that.

My HO teams end up 90% of the times with Salamence at +3 Attack and winning the game. I don't know how but this guy works in this tier. DD Stabs EQ Tera Ground. No Intimidate needed, Moxie helps more.

Yellow

You all have used these mons and are pretty straightforward, so I'll just go with other relevant mons.

This fucker can actually use QD sets with Tera Blast Ground to hit Steels and Poisons, as well as not dying from Thunderclap.
A glue yellow teams sometimes beg for. Hazards, recovery, pivot, Thunder Wave and all that in a fast Steel-type. I've used it successfully too in Web teams with Calm Mind 3A sets.


All teams I've used lately that are decent.

Blue Rocky Chomp + Rocks Cobalion
Purple Ditto Fat
Green Balance
Yellow Rain
Yellow QD Ribombee
Gray Full Physical
Yellow Jirachi Webs
Blue Webs
Purple Hoopa-U Balance
Purple Gliscor Lead HO
Brown Fat Ass
Gray Balance
Green Hydrapple Reuniclus
Blue Primarina + Avalugg
Purple DO NOT USE E-Terrain
Blue Salamence HO
Brown Decidueye-H

 

[duckycrater]

Figured I'd teamdump as well, S/O Dorron and Heatranator for testing with me

GOOD TEAMS
https://pokepast.es/c632e4a7486f969c yellow webs
https://pokepast.es/b68d55057e084903 brown balance
https://pokepast.es/a84a3317fc2fde32 white webs
OKISH TEAMS
https://pokepast.es/e503225c50912874 blue balance
https://pokepast.es/bacd28a32284022f green webs
https://pokepast.es/30efb58c2ef100e8 white offense
https://pokepast.es/cf9b569782a9f662 gray BO
https://pokepast.es/52c748c85fddc299 blue veil
https://pokepast.es/dcb68d70978a59b8 green gterrain
BAD TEAMS
https://pokepast.es/60ab34582375f9c5 black offense
https://pokepast.es/51c1dc2bb944183f pink fat
https://pokepast.es/27fa93e7b1ae7c1f brown TR

Color tier list

S:Brown, Blue, Yellow
A:Green, Red, White
B:Purple, Gray
C:Black
D:Pink

Brown
What do you expect from a color that has these 3 mons, of course this is the best color in the tier. The only weakness on Brown is its lackluster speed tier, but it can more than make up for that with dragonite, barraskewda, and choice scarfers.

Blue
The only color that comes close to Brown's versatility, but it makes up for it with sheer power. might be the most broken mon in the entire format, threatening pretty much every bulky team while also having a pretty nice offensive matchup, and :Ninetails-Alola: allows you to slap 5 offensive mons together for a HO team. On the bulkier side of things, and will simply live forever, with my personal favorite mon in the format being specially defensive , and is surprisingly not horrible removal. The main weaknesses are that its bulky side has a pretty glaring electric weakness as well as some type overlap, and its speed control is legitimetly horrible(might be one of the worst of any color to be honest), but the sheer amount of options and the power of each of those makes Blue probably the most important color to account for while teambuilding.

Yellow
I've been souring on this type a bit recently, but its still really really good. While it will always run offensive teams, it doesn't actually have to go for the easily spottable webs, with more bulky styles centering around setting spikes being interestingly good. is kind of broken, with colors not named Brown, Gray, or P*nk struggling to wall it, but glue options like Jirachi or Bulky Gholdengo help add extra bulk to supplement offenses. Just a fairly standard good offensive color.

Green
This is the weirdest color for me. You will always be running a balance/bulky offense, as this color doesn't have enough tools for a full HO or anything resembling fat, but and make everything surprisingly bulky, and this color has some sneaky ultra-bulky mons like . Excellent speed control with and help this color against some of the greediest HOs, and mons like and help you break fats. Bad hazard removal keeps this from being a top type, but with more experimentation I wouldn't be surprised seeing this tier rise to S, or even above Yellow.

Red
What if White was actually reliable? This color has been spammed all tour, and all the teams are pretty much just HOs(except for that weird team Heatranator was trying to build), but it has much more versatility with white, especially since the HO mons on this color actually have decent defenses. Not my personal favorite(as can be seen by my complete lack of teams) but I'd be lying if I said this was a bad color, especially with the amoutn of success its been seeing this tour.

White
This color is really close to being a B. Its pretty much entirely relegated to HO, and as such will be extremely matchup reliant. White has a wide selection of offensive mons with breakers like and to sweepers like to , but its support is lacking, you have to use :Abomosnow: for veil or for webs, both of which are extremely exploitable, and this color does kind of get jack shit for bulk besides .

Purple
Why on earth do people keep trying to force screens on this color. This is the dedicated balance color, kinda like Brown. The most crucial downside is that there's huge role overlap and not enough of certain roles(trying to fit a spiker when already wants to SD badly), but it can work fairly well. Could see improvements with other breakers like Nasty Plot .

Gray
This color to me feels like the epitome of "eh". It has plenty of good mons, but the speed tiers are all meh and the speed control is even meh-er( first impression is fake speed control imo). The bulk is really good, are all fairly bulky mons, but it gets worn down really easily(how many mons listed above have reliable recovery). Has a lot of potential, I think this color might get better in the future with more experimentation.

Black
So many good mons would make you think this is a great color, but sadly the good mons all do the exact same thing. and are very very close to being the exact same mon,

Pink
Pink stall is just completely unviable, every single color can easily break it just with a physical breaker that can beat mola, and it has no good progress makers. The only possible teamstyle I could see is a fat style leveraging Enamorus, but this color is probably just fucked. The worst part is that there are no unbans that can help this style, its just forever consigned to being garbage.

POTENTIAL TIERING ACTION
Everything that Heatranator said applies to this mon, this mf is single handedly holding fat styles back and banning it would make so many colors be able to run non HO styles.
See above but to a lesser extent, as this mon does straight up eat shit to Gray and Brown, but with tera this thing can smash through its checks and tear a hole into any team without several ways to outspeed it.
This might be a bit crazy but black is in such a dire spot that it might be worth a shot.

To sign this off, please for the love of god stop building teams that are 6-0'd by tspikes put poison types on your teams guys please.

 

[zastra]

Dorron and Heatranator are now council members, welcome aboard! Great posts everyone, appreciate the enthusiasm! Expect a tiering/resources update in the coming days/week

 

[Heatranator]

After an internal council vote on Ogerpon-Wellspring and Light Clay, the Monocolour council has decided to ban Ogerpon-Wellspring.

Ogerpon-Wellspring is a pretty powerful Pokemon, with its ability to snowball pretty quickly furthered enhanced by the Aurora Veil that Alolan Ninetale commonly provides. This allows Ogerpon-Wellspring to take even super effective attacks aimed at it and strike back against would be revenge killers. This can massively help its teammates to wallbreak, as even if something such as Dragonite or Zamazenta is able to beat it, they will either be heavily damaged or dead by the time Wellspring falls. Ogerpon-Wellspring is also able to tech multiple options for teams that might try to beat it, such as Play Rough, Knock Off, Low Kick, Trailblaze etc, which further impedes counterplay. While colours such as Green and White don't struggle much against Waterpon, other colours such as Pink, Gray, and Black have incredibly limited options, and thus it has been banned to relieve pressure off teambuilding.
The council also voted on Light Clay, but ultimately decided that it was ultimately balanced. While Screens HO is definetely very prevelant in the tier, it is held back by the fact that the majority of the colours cannot effectively abuse screens. Only three colours can use screens to any sort of extent, that being Purple, Red, and Blue. Purple screens are typically seen as bad, as while they have powerful sweeping threats, a lot of them overlap defensively and thus can struggle to answer opposing sweepers. Red screens are powerful, but ultimately are okay, as they can struggle immensly into colours such as Brown and Green, while not being too hard for other colours to beat. Blue screens are the only problematic abuser, but apart from Wellspring, the other abusers are fine, as while Pokemon such as Iron Crown and Garchomp are good, they are not able to significantly overwhelm counters without expending Tera or heavily deviating from their typical sets and thus making them worse into the general metagame.

 

[Makaney]

Is monocoulor in umpl and umfl

 

[zastra]

Is monocoulor in umpl and umfl

it's not

 

[zastra]

Sample teams

Red

https://pokepast.es/34c217f7dfd892cd Rotom-Wash Offense by @Heatranator

https://pokepast.es/935367a09e2e34c9 Howl Zamazenta Screens by @zastra

Blue

https://pokepast.es/b0c18af36a15e4cb Gyarados HO by @Dorron

https://pokepast.es/16496650edce1524 Manaphy HO by @zastra

Yellow

https://pokepast.es/c632e4a7486f969c Haxorus Webs by @duckycrater

https://pokepast.es/74e2a1a3041e23d4 Keldeo HStack by @Heatranator

https://pokepast.es/1bff4063763135b4 Raging Bolt Sun by @zastra

Green

https://pokepast.es/5e70c74d8ed6d36c CB Dragapult Balance by @Dorron

https://pokepast.es/2e69a8e191cc758c Green Rain by @Heatranator

https://pokepast.es/8e0fa4a2a59db072 NP Tornadus Grassy Terrain by @zastra

Black

https://pokepast.es/60ab34582375f9c5 Coalossal HO by @duckycrater

https://pokepast.es/54d055672267267a LO Darkrai Offense by @zastra

Brown

https://pokepast.es/a4bf1db5b01d8d2b DD Dragonite Balance by @Dorron

https://pokepast.es/631a785eabd246b1 Dual Espeed Balance by @zastra

Purple

https://pokepast.es/e9d4624204c23615 Specs Hoopa Balance by @Dorron

https://pokepast.es/3cb035d7ecca88b3 CB Great Tusk Fat by @Dorron

https://pokepast.es/1ea6dfd73624e5cc Ceruledge Fat by @zastra

Gray

https://pokepast.es/cf9b569782a9f662 CB Lokix BO by @duckycrater

https://pokepast.es/18a5cd36e31d38d7 DD Kyurem Screens by @zastra

White

https://pokepast.es/a84a3317fc2fde32 Slither Wing Webs by @duckycrater

https://pokepast.es/4c722a231920bf1d Power Herb Archaludon Veils by @zastra

Pink

https://pokepast.es/51c1dc2bb944183f Enamorus Semi-Stall by @duckycrater

https://pokepast.es/5dd20080c3b17d4f Tinkaton Stall by @zastra

Samples have been updated! Thx very much to contributors Dorron Heatranator duckycrater. Enjoy

Also, duckycrater is VR council now! Welcome aboard!

 

[chroma_2903]

from the moment i joined this site i was destined for this format

 

[zastra]

Viability Rankings
(Last Updated 5 Feb, 2025)

VR is live! Enjoy. Clas and Mincera have chosen to abstain from this slate. Big big thanks to Murphy Lawden, he was a great help in compiling everything. Here's the voting sheet if you're interested:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1WrGwpcMf-y0pOgWws-ZhMPFmEiqoYAtDrLv1D82HA7I/edit?usp=sharing