Monotype Need some help with my Mono Dark team

[EffluxGames]

Hi all,
This is my first attempt at a monotype team. Im pretty new to monotype and smogon rulesets in general. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Obstagoon @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Night Slash
- Facade
- Obstruct

One of two physical attackers in the team. Obstruct to guarantee that the flame orb is activated, this also helps against physical walls if the defence drop is activated. Close combat for other dark teams and knock off to help break walls. Facade is an obvious choice with Guts as it destroys almost everything that doesn't resist it. I picked Jolly over Adamant as I think the damage output is sufficient enough and it would be better to try to outspeed more mons.

Bisharp @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Iron Head
- Night Slash

Bisharp is my go to physical attacker. Although it is incredibly frail it really shines when used with Tyranitar and Mandibuzz. Tyranitar tanks any special fire moves that threaten Bisharp and Mandibuzz takes care of the physical. Moves and Ev's are pretty standard, designed to hit hard and even harder when its able to get a Swords Dance off. Sucker punch is a strong priority move, used to revenge kill weakened pokemon. I went with Night Slash over knock off because it usually comes in after items have been knocked off. Iron Head is also and obvious choice as its the strongest steel move it can learn.

Sableye @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Taunt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Knock Off
- Recover

My most often lead when starting a match. Taunt to temporarily stop entry hazards and Will-O-Wisp to cripple physical attackers. Knock off is handy to get rid of items early to give the rest of the team a better chance. Recover is there to stall and rack up some burn and knock off damage. The only real problem is that against other Dark teams it becomes pretty useless as priority doesn't work on Dark types.

Mandibuzz @ Leftovers
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Defog
- Roost
- Toxic
- Foul Play

Physically defensive set to get rid of hazards. Considered adding tailwind over defog as I find entry hazards dont bother this team too much apart from Mandibuzz, so by the time its switched in the damage is already done. Toxic to put a timer on stall pokemon and foul play to dish out some damage to physical attackers. Pairs well with Tyranitar as Mandibuzz takes care of any ground moves and TTar can tank any electric or ice attacks.

Hydreigon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Dark Pulse
- Flamethrower
- Draco Meteor
- U-turn

Pretty basic scarf Hydreigon set. Dark pulse for STAB, Flamethrower for coverage against steel, grass and ice teams. Draco Meteor is the other STAB that hits like a truck. U-Turn is pretty standard on this set, used to get out of unfavourbale situations. Levitate helps with the ground weakness by providing another immunity should Mandibuzz be knokced out.

Tyranitar @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge
- Thunder Wave
- Earthquake

My other lead to set up Stealth Rocks and great against other teams that rely on weather. Stone edge as the primary STAB move and Earthquake for coverage. It could just be my skill level but I find I don't use Thunderwave as much as I probably should so this move is open to be changed. Sand stream operates as mentioned before, if I think the other team will rely on weather Tyraniter is the lead I go with.

 

[Twilight]

Hi, welcome to Smogon! I'm locking your RMT for the time being as the forum rules require that you provide at least 3 lines of descriptions for each Pokemon to explain their roles. Please read the rules carefully and take a look at Team Showcase to see the level of detail we require. It would be appreciated if you also listed the sets you are using on each Pokemon. PM me with updated descriptions and I'll be happy to unlock this.

unlocked

 

[Conflux]

Hey there, cool team. I have some suggestions that will hopefully help you out.

Major Changes

Obstagoon -> Incineroar

->

Set

Incineroar @ Choice Band
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Knock Off
- Close Combat
- U-turn

Obstagoon is outclassed on Dark teams because it doesn't do anything too useful to make it worth using over several other options Dark has. I think Incineroar is a better fit here because Scarf Hydreigon, especially with Flamethrower, isn't strong enough to break Steel-type teams as Corviknight doesn't get 2HKOed, Aegislash lives any hit in Shield form, and Melmetal, while it's still legal, easily lives a hit. Due to Steel's lack of Fire resists, Incineroar puts great pressure, and paired with Sableye, Hydreigon, and Mandibuzz, shifts the matchup in your favor. Incineroar also comes in handy against Psychic- and Fairy-type teams because it takes neutral damage from Gardevoir's Moonblast and threatens everything with Knock Off and Flare Blitz. It's Fire typing also aids against Grass and Ice, and its Intimidate is also very useful, making it a pretty good fit here.

Bisharp -> Grimmsnarl

->

Set

Grimmsnarl @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Play Rough
- Darkest Lariat
- Thunder Wave
- Trick

Your team is currently pretty weak to Keldeo, which Dark-type teams hate dealing with. What I recommend here is Choice Scarf Grimmsnarl which is a set I first saw Decem using a while back but didn't try it out until the release of Pokemon Home and the introduction of Keldeo. Equipped with a Choice Scarf, Grimmsnarl is able to outspeed and most of the time OHKO Keldeo with Play Rough. If Keldeo is running Choice Scarf as well then it's not a big problem because it's not as strong as Choice Specs or Calm Mind variants and won't OHKO Grimmsnarl with anything. This set isn't standard at all so most of the time your opponent won't see it coming. Outside of checking Keldeo, Grimmsnarl is great against Dragon-type teams thanks to its immunity, and paired up with Scarf Hydreigon form a very threatening core against them. This set only really needs dual STAB so the last two moves are Thunder Wave and Trick. Trick is able to cripple annoying Pokemon such as Toxapex and Thunder Wave can let you get a clutch paralysis off even if you've Tricked away your Choice Scarf thanks to its Prankster ability. Steel and Dragon are arguably top 2 at the moment so these two changes will give you a very solid matchup against both while also covering some other weaknesses such as Psychic's Fairy core and Keldeo.

Minor Changes

Sableye

Would go with Encore over Taunt here since it helps you beat Nasty Plot Lucario which is a huge threat to Dark-type teams. If you switch into Sableye on Lucario and it goes for Nasty Plot you can use Encore, and if it doesn't then it's not a huge threat since Sableye can take its unboosted hits pretty well. Encore is also really nice against setup Pokemon such as Snorlax, Calm Mind Keldeo, and Kyurem-B.

Hydreigon

Flamethrower is simply too weak on a non Nasty Plot or Choice Specs set so I would go with Fire Blast here. The accuracy really isn't too bad and the damage output is worth it. Plus you now have Incineroar to lean on should you miss Fire Blast and lose your Hydreigon or something.

Mandibuzz

Due to its weakness to Stealth Rock and it being your Defog user, Heavy Duty Boots is the best option on Mandibuzz to prevent it from taking 25% upon entry when Stealth Rock is up so it can still effectively check the Pokemon it's meant to even with hazards up. Between Encore Sableye and Trick Grimmsnarl you have enough stallbreakers so Toxic on Mandibuzz doesn't feel as necessary. Instead I would replace it with U-turn which will help you gain momentum since Mandibuzz often forces switches. Incineroar especially likes getting safe switchins and it forms a U-turn core with Hydreigon and Mandibuzz which is really nice since they all force switches fairly often.


[click on the sprites above for importable]

Hope you like my suggestions and good luck with the team!

 

[EffluxGames]

Thanks heaps! Tried the changes and my first match was against a Keldeo and it worked great.