MonoPsychic RMT

[Zystral]

Recently, on a different forums I frequent, a Mono-Type tournament was being held over Shoddy Battle. I ended up choosing Psychic and before I knew it, I had defeated MonoBug, MonoGround, MonoElectric and MonoFlying. I even decided to battle MonoDark and MonoSteel for kicks after I beat them by a large margin too. Looks like the versatility and menace of Psychic is very underrated.
Apologies in advance if nobody likes my RMT Layout. No, I don't give my Pokemon nicknames, sadly.

Here's the team that propelled me to victory:

-At a glance-

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- In Detail -

Azelf @ Choice Scarf
[Levitate]
Naive (+Spd, -Sp.Def)
EVs; 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 6 Sp.Atk
- Trick
- Stealth Rock
- Explosion
- Flamethrower

Max Speed Azelf + Scarf = Outspeeds every single lead used today.
Aerodactyl, Jolteon, Electrode, even Crobat are all outsped. And what usually happens is after I Trick these already fast Pokemon a Scarf, I lay my rocks and either switch out to something (because of imminent 3HKO), or I explode (knowing I can take them out). This tactic has yet to fail me, and has even netted me some ragequits because some fool with TrickScarfGross lead couldn't handle being stalemated.
Speaking of Metagross, that's the sole reason Flamethrower is there - Forretress / Skarmory / Metagross and Scizor are all an OHKO. Bronzong is a 2HKO. Nothing else worries me too much, I can just Explode although usually, Flamethrower is between a 1-3HKO on just about every other lead ranging from Abomasnow to Gliscor.

Infernape or any other Fake Out user, however, is a completely different matter. See below.

Gallade @ Life Orb
[Steadfast]
Jolly (+Spd, -Sp.Atk)
EVs; 252 Spd / 232 Atk / 26 Sp.Def
- Ice Punch
- Night Slash
- Close Combat
- Swords Dance

I said Fake Out users are treated differently. Of course. Bring in a Gallade. Absorb a weak and harmless attack, speed boost, early game sweep away. Before I figured this out, I ran a Scarfed set which included the use of Earthquake, but that soon became apparant and useless, and realizing I cold abuse Steadfast boosts from many common leads, a Swords Dance sweeper with a thread comes into existence. The coolest thing? By investing into Sp.Def a little bit, I can survive an unboosted Air Slash from Scarfed Togekisses. And then after a Steadfast boost, I outspeed and OHKO with an unboosted Ice Punch.

Cresselia @ Leftovers
[Levitate]
Bold (+Def, -Atk)
EVs; 252 HP / 252 Def / 6 Sp.Def
- Thunder Wave
- Ice Beam
- Calm Mind
- Moonlight

Agreed, Moonlight isn't too reliable, but this Cresselia isn't made to stall anything out. It's to pass Paralysis support around the team, so that if Gallade hasn't absorbed a Flinch, it still has a viable sweeping potential.
But even so, this hasn't actually worked as well as I'd ever hoped, so I might replace this for something.

Jirachi @ Leftovers
[Serene Grace]
Timid (+Spd, -Atk)
EVs; 252 HP / 252 Spd / 6 Sp.Def
- Substitute
- Calm Mind
- Flash Cannon
- Thunderbolt

Wanna hear a cool story? I managed to outstall Blissey, get +6 and Flash Cannon was an OHKO. That's how devastating this set is when played correctly. Usually, I leave this for a late game sweep, as then stuff like Tyranitar (which is OHKO'd with Flash Cannon even without any CM's) or Gengar (which has been a problem) are eliminated, allowing Jirachi to set up and sweep unhindered. This has usually been the gamebreaker for me, and still remains one of my favourites of all time.

Celebi @ Leftovers
[Natural Cure]
Bold (+Def, -Atk)
EVs; 242 HP / 200 Def / 66 Spd
- Thunder Wave
- Recover
- Grass Knot
- Ice Beam

Again, more paralyis support. Funny enough, this little onion can hold it's own quite well. It outspeeds and OHKO's standard TTar with Grass Knot, and even OHKO'd a Specially Defensive Dragonite with Ice Beam. Although like Cresselia, it doens't perform all too well, so I might replace it with a Swords Dance Passer set.

Latias @ Leftovers
[Levtitate]
Timid (+Spd, -Atk)
EVs; 252 Spd / 252 Sp.Atk / 6 HP
- Calm Mind
- Recover
- Draco Meteor
- Surf

I had such an easy time against MonoGround due to the sheer amount of Levitaters I have >_>
Latias, like Jirachi, is a late-game Set-Up Sweeper. While I prefer to use Jirachi, Latias is a force to be reckoned with. I managed to OHKO a Bronzong at full health without SRocks Damage once, and only at +3.
An Offensive Latias is nothing to laugh it. Not only is it faster and equally powerful to a SpecsMence, it has much better longevity, thanks to being able to survive unboosted Ice Beams here and there - something Mence only dreams of.

Anyway, that's the team, I plan on modifiying Cress and Celebi a bit more, but so far, it's been doing very well. Any comments and ideas welcome. Oh and by the way - I won that MonoType tourney too.
​

 

[Cerulean21]

I havent got time to do a full rate (will do that later) but just a few points to line out.

Celebi does not learn Ice Beam to my knowledge, so I'd like to know how you killed that Dragonite. Calm Mind is kinda useless with Draco Meteor lowering your SpAtk Stat by 2, so switch to Dragon Pulse instead.

And obviously, since 4 of your team members are weak to Pursuit (Tyranitar (and especially scizor, who laughts at this team when it isn't set up) are gonna run through it). You do not have anything that can safely switch in on a CB Scizor U-turn and Gallade is quite frail so Tyranitar could even become a bigger problem (if DDtar gets a Dragon Dance under his belt, it's "gg" anyway, since he will OHKO Celebi, Cresseli (most likely), Azelf and Latias with Crunch and discpose of Jirachi and Gallade with Earthquake/Fire Punch.

 

[BoyBoy]

Not really a rate, just a nitpick. As for Gallade, it won't get a speed boost from Steadfast if you switch it in on a Fake out, since you won't get flinched.

Also, i suggest a scarf jirachi with Iron Head, Fire Punch, Trick and filler. This will solve your huge Tyranitar and Scizor weaknesses, as well as others. The flinch is nice too.

 

[mc2094]

Not a rate but some things you have wrong. Celebi doesn't learn Ice Beam so HP Ice would have to be in its place. Your Azelf won't OHKO Metagross lead since the standard runs Occa Berry. Many Metagross will beat Azelf through Meteor Mash+Bullet Punch. I think having the standard Focus Sash Azelf would be better here as the only common lead that is faster than Azelf is Aerodactly. In place of Trick you can run Psychic so that you can handle Infernape or you can try HP Ground which also puts a dent in Heatran. It seems Jirachi is the main sweeper but guys like CB Tyranitar will keep it from setting up. I'm not sure but I believe that a 252 HP/0 SDef Tyranitar can survive a non-boosted Flash Cannon from Jirachi with those EVs if Sandstorm is up. Tyranitar also has an easy time with Latias since even a +1 Surf fails to 2HKO max HP Tyranitar who can OHKO with Crunch or Pursuit and the same goes for Celebi. DDTar can also manage to sweep this team once it gets to set up on something. I can also see CB Scizor giving you problems as he can trap kill Latias and threaten Celebi as well as Cresselia with U-Turn and Pursuit. To deal with this I would suggest the following change to Celebi.

Celebi@Leftovers
Bold
252 HP/ 220 Def/ 36 Spe
-CM
-Grass Knot
-HP Fire
-Recover

After a boost from CM, Celebi can OHKO Scizor who will often switch in. Without the boost it will do about 75% on average. With Calm Mind, Celebi can set up on several bulky waters, even if they carry Ice Beam and can beat other common switch-ins such as Taunt Gyarados.

Three set up poke is a bit too much so lets make Jirachi a Scarfer since Latias is better at sweeping since it doesn't require as much set up. A set like Iron Head-Trick-U-turn-Thunder Punch/Ice Punch can work. The last choice depends on whether you have more trouble with guys like Salamence or with DD Gyarados and other Water types. Jirachi will also serve as a good switch against Aero lead once you break his Sash with Azelf. It can also help against Tyranitar. As for Latias, run the Defensive Calm Mind set.

Latias@Leftovers
Timid
128 HP/128 SAtk/ 252 Spe
-CM
-Dragon Pulse
-Recover
-Refresh

This thing will have very little trouble sweeping if used correctly. It really benefits from Magnezone support but he can't be placed so baiting Scizor out with Celebi will have to do. Refresh will let you set up with little trouble and Dragon Pulse is your main form of attack. If your worried about Heatran then go ahead and run Surf though I wouldn't suggest it. Cresselia seems a bit of a filler and isn't really benefiting the team as far as typing is considered. You could try doing something like replacing Azelf lead with Uxie and running a mixed Azelf in its place or something. Or you could just have Bronzong in order to better handle guys like Tryranitar and have an extra Exploder. The better option though would be a CB Metagross. You lack a trapper and Metagross can learn Pursuit. You could try something like this.

Metagross@Choice Band
Adamant
252 HP/ 112 Atk/ 144 SDef
-Pursuit
-Meteor Mash
-EQuake
-Explosion

This will give you a great check to pokemon such as Latias and Gengar who will have trouble preventing him from trap killing them due to the extra bulk. The best part about this guys is that no one expects pursuit 'Gross anymore. Due to this, most people won't bother staying in due to a predicted Pursuit and will just switch right away. The others moves are pretty self explanitory. You can try things like Bullet Punch in place of meteor Mash or Trick in place of Explosion if you find that he doesn't get too many opurtunities to Explosde though tricking a choice band is very risky. That's all for now. Gl

 

[xWOLFYx]

Tyranitar with 0 HP / 0 SpDef EVs takes this much from an unboosted Flash Cannon from your Jirachi:

236 Atk vs 354 Def & 341 HP (80 Base Power): 116 - 138 (34.02% - 40.47%).

Your Celebi's Grass Knot does this to the same 0/0 TTar:

236 Atk vs 354 Def & 341 HP (120 Base Power): 174 - 206 (51.03% - 60.41%).

In addition, Celebi cannot learn Ice Beam. This means you must've attacked Dragonite with HP Ice, at best. Dragonite with 252HP (not even a SpDef Dragonite) is never OHKO'd by your Celebi's HP Ice even with SR:

236 Atk vs 236 Def & 386 HP (70 Base Power): 204 - 240 (52.85% - 62.18%).

So please stop making things up.

As for advice, I'd say your number one priority would be to stop TTar and Scizor as addressed above. The Scarf Jirachi set is your best bet since his STAB Iron Head will hurt TTar alot and can still Flinch him to death even after a Dragon Dance. Scizor can be hit with Fire Punch while you resist his Bullet Punch. Since you already have a CM sweeper in Latias, I think Jirachi would better serve the team by providing immediate firepower and ways to revenge kill things. Having used SubCM Jirahchi a good bit, I can say that he is a great bulky sweeper, but it takes several turns to set him up correctly.

 

[Airickx]

to solve the t-tar/ scizor problem just switch celebii to the tinkerbell set

Life orb, modest, 232 HP / 244 SpA / 32 Spe
Leafstorm (ohko t-tar) HP fire (ohko sciz) t-wave, rest/recvover

*edit* hmm after reading wolfys post the scarf jirachi MIGHT be a better idea... but it wouldnt hurt to try them both out

 

[VKCA]

Does stead fast activate if you switch him in on fake out?

 

[mc2094]

^ I'm pretty sure it doesn't.

 

[doppio]

Of course not. Once you know they've got it, you've just got to pray they're ignorant enough to use it on him later on... If they don't do it in the first place when he's out. (One actual scenario is in 2v2 have an enemy (or your own), say, Dunsparce paralyze him then proceed to flinch him. You have a cleric come in after that, and voila, he's faster. But even then it's just too random to expect anything from.)

You've got enough defensively-inclined guys as it is IMO, so I'm for using a CB Metagross as you might need that power right away. I think you should have a CS user also. (Why all the CM set-up, BTW? Gallade can get a pretty good bulk up/drain punch set going so it might be nice to try that.)