Monotype My Tried and True Mono Bug Team

[smashmallow101]

(Nickname influnces are now included)

The Current Squad

Larry (Scolipede) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Speed Boost
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Def / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Impish Nature
- Poison Jab
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Megahorn


The max defense is there so that Scolipede can take hits, and get a swords dance off safely.
As for why i named it Larry? Idk ¯\_(ツ)_/¯


L A M P (Volcarona) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Fiery Dance
- Bug Buzz
- Giga Drain

The only Volcarona set I ever use, Giga Drain is useful both for keeping Volcarona healthy, as well as dealing with its weakness to water and rock types.
L A M P because moth.


Strider (Araquanid) @ Choice Band
Ability: Water Bubble
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Liquidation
- Leech Life
- Poison Jab
- Sticky Web

Just click Liquidation. the other 3 moves are only there to fill in the slots, and you're never gonna actually use them.
Strider is just referencing its species


Internet (Galvantula) @ Life Orb
Ability: Compound Eyes
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Giga Drain
- Bug Buzz
- Sucker Punch
- Thunder

Life Orb provides Galvantula with the power it needs to be a genuine threat. sucker punch is added to quickly finish off opponents who think that their focus sash can save them from the high voltage onslaught.
And Internet, since it's an electric web developer.


Monoblos (Heracross) (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Close Combat
- Megahorn
- Knock Off

Heracross is chosen over Buzzwole for its better speed, though the two can be interchanged. Just pray to a deity of your choosing that Megahorn doesn't miss.
Monoblos is a monster from Capcom's Monster Hunter franchise. (It's a close relative of Diablos)


Honey (Ribombee) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Shield Dust
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Aromatherapy
- Sticky Web
- Defog
- Draining Kiss

Ribombee is obviously here for support, clearing status given from those pesky stall teams, removing rocks that some team members might hate, and setting webs to slow down opponents, allowing Araquanid to keep violently reminding the opponent to stay hydrated.
Honey, because it's a sweet girl and a bee.


Other Team Options


SpOrk (Scizor) @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- Dual Wingbeat
- Bug Bite

Swords Dance Scizor, a classic that you can never go wrong with.
Name sounded funny, so i went with it


ThiccBug (Buzzwole) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Ice Punch
- Leech Life
- Earthquake

A bug this swole deserves to be pummeling its opponents into oblivion, not sitting and waiting for its opponent to die. Should be swapped with Heracross specifically.
Name is self-explanatory.


cold L A M P (Frosmoth) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Ice Scales
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Ice Beam
- Bug Buzz
- Dazzling Gleam
- Quiver Dance

Literally just ice volcarona. also has really good spdef thanks to ice scales.
cold L A M P, because moth, but ice.

 

[smashmallow101]

This team goes through many changes, though the types of members always remain the same. I've always had fun battling with this one.

 

[Lin]

Hey, great team, and it's been a while since I've actually seen a bug team in action.

Major Changes



I suggest trapper Araquanid here because how much your team struggles against defensive Pokemon can be considered common. You can simply Infestation to trap those pesky Pokemon, Soak them up, and watch them die to Toxic, which enables a few win paths to your team. This set allows you to trap anything vs Steel and most importantly Heatran lacking Taunt which allows you to freely set up with Volcarona and win at +1, and trap Toxapex against both Water and Poison and Galarian Slowking against Poison which enables a decent win path for Ribombee. You also distribute Toxic which overall helps you to break more consistently so I think you can benefit from this set more than you benefit from Choice Band.

Araquanid

Araquanid @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Water Bubble
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Soak
- Rest
- Toxic
- Infestation

Honey (Ribombee) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Shield Dust
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Aromatherapy > Quiver Dance
- Sticky Web > Moonblast
- Defog > Bug Buzz
- Draining Kiss > Psychic

Ribombee is your biggest win condition against Dragon-types, so it is better if you make the best of setup here. Psychic helps to get past Toxapex, and also helps with Poison matchup a bit albeit it is walled by Galarian Slowking. If you don't want to follow the setup route, I can suggest U-turn over Quiver Dance and Choice Specs over Boots here.

The reasoning is that this team heavily relies on offense that you won't get that much of an opportunity or even need to actually use Aromatherapy and will deal enough damage with Draining Kiss. Another alternative here is to turn this Ribombee into your standard lead for webs and keep your Galvantula with Life Orb for a bit more offense which is also acceptable, in that case, you would have a moveset of Stun Spore, Moonblast, Sticky Web, and a desired filler move.

Minor Changes

252 Def > 252 Atk / 252 HP

As a sweeper Pokemon, you should seek setup opportunities against weak Pokemon instead of wasting your potential to set up in front of possibly more dangerous Pokemon. This is why 252 Atk will almost always work much better, as you won't be missing some crucial calcs against some Pokemon. I didn't run calcs for every type but running 252 Attack over Def will allow you to always OHKO Hydreigon, OHKO Tapu Lele, and 2HKO Dracovish which are some examples where your def boost won't put up any work and you will end up dead.

As an alternative, if you insist on keeping bulk please consider running HP over pure Def. This makes a minimal difference in Physical bulk but provides you a good special bulk along the way so overall you actually get more targets to set Swords Dance against. Example calcs below. If u follow this route you can Adamant nature too, for extra damage.

252 Atk Excadrill Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Scolipede: 186-219 (57.4 - 67.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Excadrill Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 252 Def Scolipede: 144-169 (55.1 - 64.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

> (Focus Sash over Life Orb) OR change your Sticky Web User

Bug is an excellent offensive type mainly because it has excellent speed control measurements, this comes in many forms but the most crucial one is Sticky Web. Since Gen6 Galvantula has been filling the Sticky Web setter role for the Bug teams and to ensure that you really would appreciate laying down webs guaranteed in case you face a faster threat that can threaten to OHKO you. Do this change only if you want to keep your Sticky Webs on a dedicated lead other than Galvantula. I already suggested Ribombee can be used for that, and you can even adjust Araquanid for that purpose.

Modest > Timid
Adamant > Jolly

You really want fast natures instead of offensive natures, Those Pokemon already hit extremely hard and have access to boosting their offense even further so this counts as overkill and is not necessary.

 

[smashmallow101]

Hey, great team, and it's been a while since I've actually seen a bug team in action.

Major Changes



I suggest trapper Araquanid here because how much your team struggles against defensive Pokemon can be considered common. You can simply Infestation to trap those pesky Pokemon, Soak them up, and watch them die to Toxic, which enables a few win paths to your team. This set allows you to trap anything vs Steel and most importantly Heatran lacking Taunt which allows you to freely set up with Volcarona and win at +1, and trap Toxapex against both Water and Poison and Galarian Slowking against Poison which enables a decent win path for Ribombee. You also distribute Toxic which overall helps you to break more consistently so I think you can benefit from this set more than you benefit from Choice Band.

Araquanid

Araquanid @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Water Bubble
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Soak
- Rest
- Toxic
- Infestation

Honey (Ribombee) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Shield Dust
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Aromatherapy > Quiver Dance
- Sticky Web > Moonblast
- Defog > Bug Buzz
- Draining Kiss > Psychic

Ribombee is your biggest win condition against Dragon-types, so it is better if you make the best of setup here. Psychic helps to get past Toxapex, and also helps with Poison matchup a bit albeit it is walled by Galarian Slowking. If you don't want to follow the setup route, I can suggest U-turn over Quiver Dance and Choice Specs over Boots here.

The reasoning is that this team heavily relies on offense that you won't get that much of an opportunity or even need to actually use Aromatherapy and will deal enough damage with Draining Kiss. Another alternative here is to turn this Ribombee into your standard lead for webs and keep your Galvantula with Life Orb for a bit more offense which is also acceptable, in that case, you would have a moveset of Stun Spore, Moonblast, Sticky Web, and a desired filler move.

Minor Changes

252 Def > 252 Atk / 252 HP

As a sweeper Pokemon, you should seek setup opportunities against weak Pokemon instead of wasting your potential to set up in front of possibly more dangerous Pokemon. This is why 252 Atk will almost always work much better, as you won't be missing some crucial calcs against some Pokemon. I didn't run calcs for every type but running 252 Attack over Def will allow you to always OHKO Hydreigon, OHKO Tapu Lele, and 2HKO Dracovish which are some examples where your def boost won't put up any work and you will end up dead.

As an alternative, if you insist on keeping bulk please consider running HP over pure Def. This makes a minimal difference in Physical bulk but provides you a good special bulk along the way so overall you actually get more targets to set Swords Dance against. Example calcs below. If u follow this route you can Adamant nature too, for extra damage.

252 Atk Excadrill Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Scolipede: 186-219 (57.4 - 67.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Excadrill Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 252 Def Scolipede: 144-169 (55.1 - 64.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

> (Focus Sash over Life Orb) OR change your Sticky Web User

Bug is an excellent offensive type mainly because it has excellent speed control measurements, this comes in many forms but the most crucial one is Sticky Web. Since Gen6 Galvantula has been filling the Sticky Web setter role for the Bug teams and to ensure that you really would appreciate laying down webs guaranteed in case you face a faster threat that can threaten to OHKO you. Do this change only if you want to keep your Sticky Webs on a dedicated lead other than Galvantula. I already suggested Ribombee can be used for that, and you can even adjust Araquanid for that purpose.

Modest > Timid
Adamant > Jolly

You really want fast natures instead of offensive natures, Those Pokemon already hit extremely hard and have access to boosting their offense even further so this counts as overkill and is not necessary.

I'll go through my thoughts on each of these.

For araquanid: no. funny 3x water moves go BOOM. as i joked, araquanid is the mon that violently reminds my opponents to stay hydrated. also, how is volcarona gonna kill a heatran? heatran is obliterated by liquidation anyway.

Ribombee: the second option sounds great, since i could go back to my araquanid meme set of just liquidation, and no other moves. Really, when would i need to use them anyway? though adding a 4th attack is more preferable.

Scolipede: sounds good

Galvantula: ABSOLUTELY NOT. Life orb allows galvantula to ohko non spdef toxapex with thunder. And life orb is what makes galvantula able to do high damage in the first place.

Volcarona & Heracross: i kinda switch between these natures a lot anyway.

Finally, thank you for such a detailed response, it was a lot of help, even if i didn't like some suggestions.

 

[ezlaturbo]

No, Heatran actually stays in the back vs Bug, as it hard counters Volcarona. The reason for the trapper set is to remove Tran from the picture, in order to facilitate a Volcarona sweep. You're trying to remove checks to your sweepers. As a Bug main, I understand wanting Liquidation, but unless you change your team up quite a bit, you don't have room for it. I personally don't really like Scolipede, as I find Scizor much better speed control-wise, and I really like its ability to clean weakened teams. Scoli is probably fine tho. Galvantula is fine as LO, but you really need a Defogger or Spinner considering how much Bug dislikes hazards. If you have good Hazard control, a fun option that often takes opponents off guard is Scarf Frosmoth. It's mostly good due to surprise factor, but Frosmoth is generally very frail, so it can be useful in chunking slower Dragons or unsuspecting Flyings. Again, that's just a fun thing, not really viable due to needing boots more often than not. Scizor can run Defog, as an offensive or defensive Defogger, depending on the set. On Buzzwole, you don't need both STABs, I'd run CC, DLariat, and 2 coverage moves, usually EdgeQuake or BoltBeam coverage, though EQ+Ice Punch covers a lot of things. I personally like BoltBeam to help the Flying matchup, probably the hardest one for Bug to deal with.