These are the different sets and teams I used during MWP, shoutouts to
Mateeus and
Decem for helping me through the tour. Also, the importables of each team can be found by clicking on the team sprites!
Week 1 vs Jordy
Replay:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldexmonotype-1237774662
Result: Won
Since Jordy is not really a Monotype player but solid in National Dex, I wanted to just bring something strong overall. I ended up settling on this Grass build as I feel like it takes on a ton of the metagame. Rillaboom is obviously crazy being able to just straight up wallbreak with Wood Hammer and act as a revenge killer with Grassy Glide, so I went with a choice band set. Mega Venusaur + Ferrothorn are pretty much the defensive staple core that Grass teams need. Decidueye allows me to better take on the Psychic- and Ghost-type matchups, which ended up coming in handy. Whimsicott provides useful utility in Knock Off and Tailwind, while also being able to pressure Dragon-types with Pixie Plate boosted Moonblast. The Rotom-C was designed to take on Flying's defensive core since I lost to the type pretty much otherwise. Overall, I think this team is really solid and definitely a good type in National Dex Monotype. This game was played out, I was eventually able to win thanks to Decidueye weakening the team, allowing Rillaboom to clean late-game with Grassy Glide.
Week 2 vs Trichotomy
Replay:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldexmonotype-1240077409
Result: Won
Trichotomy is pretty much known for using high tier types, so I wanted to build something that could take on a ton of those types. We ended up settling on this Water build. While I recognize Mega Gyarados isn't exactly the best mega for Water teams, I felt like it was a decent option against Trichotomy who tends to use bulkier builds. Mega Gyarados can put in work there, which is why I opted to use it over Mega Sharpedo. Swampert is fairly standard, I decided to use Rindo Berry on it allowing it to take on Mega Charizard Y, a common mega Trich has used on his Flying teams. Tapu Fini was the hazard control and acts as a check to Kommo-o, preventing it from omni-boosting, Knock Off is also just good utility in general. This Greninja was made to tackle Water teams, as well as have a decent matchup vs Flying and Dragon teams. Toxic Spikes in general is really good utility and supports Urshifu-R nicely. Choice Band Urshifu-R was the wallbreaker, I also opted to run Fire Punch on the filler slot because this team felt weak towards the Ferrothorn+Aegislash defensive core on Steel. Toxapex is fairly self-explanatory, I ran Poison Jab to better take on Taunt+CM Tapu Fini that was seemed to be popular at the time. He ended up bringing Dragon, so this team was at somewhat of a disadvantage, but I ended up winning due to a few misplays on his part.
Week 4 vs Harpp
Replay:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldexmonotype-1251015363
Result: Won
Harpp while a great builder and battler tends to be very one-dimensional. This lead us to really focus on a few narrow matchups, which we did end up getting. I misclicked with Victini vs Heatran, otherwise, it won at that point, however, I got a bit lucky in the endgame and it worked itself out. Mega Medicham is the obvious choice for a mega, as its just a crazy good wallbreaker. Decem in the last minute decided we should run Fire Punch over Fake Out on it, which turned out to be pretty helpful throughout the match. Latias is the standard Choice Scarf set, you can opt to drop Psychic for Trick. Celebi allowed us to blow through the Water matchup alongside Mega Medicham. Victini was made into a Z-Celebrate set, since Choice Band isn't as necessary due to the fact Mega Medicham is already an insane physical wallbreaker. It also matches up Steel, which is a type Harpp likes to bring a lot. Jirachi and Tapu Lele are fairly standard. Shadow Ball on Tapu Lele allows it to make the Psychic matchup much better.
Week 5 vs Maskun
Replay:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldexmonotype-1254337080
Result: Lost
This is admittedly not my best build, also we figured that Maskun was receiving help from his teammates, which factored into our decisions building. We weren't sure what he was going to bring but knew that it was going to be a stronger type so we prepped for that. It didn't really work out as the team was destroyed by Boltbeam Mega Latias. Mega Aerodactyl puts in work vs Fire, Dragon, and Flying teams. Tornadus-T was meant to help Mega Aerodactyl break Steel-type Pokemon and walls so it carried Heat Wave and Knock Off. Celesteela and Mantine are fairly standard sets, not much to explain there. Thundurus-T was meant to annihilate Water, however, it was able to virtually put in no work due to the fact there was a Mega Latias. Finally, Landorus-T rounds out the team by providing Speed control and is the Stealth Rock user. I wanted to use the Fire team that I had used in week 7 and semi-finals here, which would have destroyed Maskun, but my team had some doubts about using Fire.
Week 6 vs Attribute
Replay:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldexmonotype-1257191293
Result: Won
Attribute challenged me early in the week to play, luckily I had a few teams prepared, there was a reason I chose this. Attribute tends to think that I overuse Psychic and cteams it in every tour that he faces me, so I tried to use something that would matchup his cteams. Dragon Dance + Refresh Mega Altaria ended up going in against his Electric team. The team is meant to again have decent matchups vs a ton of higher tier types. Kyurem is meant to be a wallbreaker and is for the Water matchup, as Choice Specs Freeze Dry pretty much claims a kill. Latias is a fairly standard set. I wanted to try out Dual Dance Kommo-o because its sweep potential seemed potent. For this set I think it works best if you force a switch into a defensive Pokemon, click Clangorous Soul to get an omni-boost in exchange for some health, then pull off a z-move nuke and get another omni-boost to sweep. Dragonite is just a solid Pokemon in general and is able to act as a revenge killer with Extreme Speed. Mega Altaria really performs best with this set, so I went with that, which ended up paying off here. Finally, since I did not have a Roost Kyurem, Greninja seemed especially threatening, so I decided to use an old tech in Yache Hydreigon to catch Ice Beam offguard then OHKO it with Flamethrower. I ended up throwing Defog on Hydreigon for emergency uses, even though hazards don't do as much to the team due to Dragonite wearing Heavy-Duty Boots, so its not necessary. Overall I think this team has potential was fun/solid when I used it.
Week 7 vs Luckypiper & Semi-Finals vs Gondra
Replays:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldexmonotype-1263658036
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldexmonotype-1268154555
Result: Lost vs Luckypiper, Won vs Gondra
LMFAO, I can't believe the first week I did not have Libero, otherwise I would have OHKO'ed Mega Charizard Y turn 1. However, Fire Blast missed so it didn't matter as much, was still annoying later on. No Sucker Punch on Cinderace also ended up biting me in the ass after Luckypiper got a fair bit lucky with Blacephalon and was able to steal that match. However, I still think non-Sucker Punch Cinderace is good in the metagame. We used Fire again since we did not think the Murkrows would prep for it since we had used it the previous week. That worked in our favor as they ended up bringing Steel. This set allows me to take on a variety of different things that Pyro Ball does not target, like Toxapex with Zen Headbutt, and Tyranitar with High Jump Kick. Heatran is just a standard offensive set. Volcarona was specifically placed on this team to put in work against Psychic teams. Torkoal is the standard set, I opted for Heavy-Duty Boots over Heat Rock, since no teammates really needed the sun, compared to some other Fire teams. Mega Charizard X puts in work vs Water and non-Regieleki Electric teams. It also does wonders in the mirror matchup. Finally, Blacephalon is just a late-game cleaner with its Choice Scarf.
Looking forward to NatDex WCOP. Also I hope that Monotype WCOP features National Dex Monotype. Can't wait to see what the rest of you drop in here and how the metagame develops over these next few tours!
