Monotype No lullaby

[mushamu]

Introduction
Hi everyone, if you don't know me yet my name is Decem and I like to play Monotype. Though I'm not the best at battling, teambuilding has always been a fun aspect of this game for me, so I like to do it frequently around new ideas and such. Normal is a type that has rather fallen from grace as the metagame progressed, as many types found and received new ways to deal with it, like Electric gaining Zeraora and Dragon using Kommo-o much more often, but I still think it's decent as a pick in tournaments and a great type to ladder with, seeing as it doesn't have any horrible, autolose matchups, and you can always try to beat your opponent through outplaying. However, Normal teams are know to be somewhat linear, so I tried building this one around lesser used concepts like Bewear. Unfortunately, I did build the team when there was one week until SS Monotype took over, so I didn't get the chance to use it anywhere major. However, I still really like SM Monotype as a tier, so I will most likely continue to build and play even if SS is the main metagame. Balance is my favorite archetype overall, so I decided to post a balance team as my first Monotype RMT. Here is the team in depth:

Teambuilding process

Bewear is the Pokemon I wanted to build around for this team.


Diggersby forms a wallbreaking core with Bewear, and takes pressure off of it, while Bewear can break through Pokemon that scouts Diggersby like Celesteela and Mega Sableye.


Chansey is great on Normal teams because its really fat, and can set Stealth Rock, making it a staple of every good Normal team.


Porygon2 compliments Chansey in a defensive core, as it can take on more threatening physical attackers like Choice Band Excadrill and Tapu Bulu.


Ditto makes the defensive core even more solid by revenge killing setup sweepers like Dragonite, Breloom, and serves as the main speed control on this team, like many other Normal teams.


Staraptor gives the team a Defog user, and rids the team of threatening hazards like Spikes and Toxic Spikes. Its physical bulk and Fighting neutrality is also great for taking on Pokemon like Breloom.


I decided Mega Pidgeot would be a better Defog user here, as it gives the team a Special Attacker, and can outspeed Pokemon like Keldeo which threaten the entire Normal team. Staraptor is great on Normal, but I thought it wasn't needed on this team.

Full Team

importable

Bewear @ Fightinium Z
Ability: Fluffy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Substitute
- Earthquake
- Drain Punch
- Swords Dance

Bewear is the first member of my team and the Pokemon I wanted to build around. This set is pretty much a really easy out against the Steel and Dark matchups. Substitute ensures you set up on Pokemon like Defensive Celesteela, Ferrothorn, and Mega Sableye and lets you Swords Dance and sweep. If Defensive Celesteela drops Flamethrower, then it can't break through Substitute at all with one shot as Air Slash isn't used, meaning it'll have to rely on Heavy Slam to do damage. Bewear is also really good against offensive Steel and Dark teams, seeing as it can take hits from other Pokemon such as Bisharp, Mega Scizor, Alolan Muk, and Tyranitar rather comfortably and set up. Drain Punch is a good way to ensure Bewear doesn't get worn down, and can be powered up with Fightinium Z in order to beat things like Mandibuzz, Mega Scizor, and Hippowdon more easily. Earthquake hits Pokemon like Toxapex and Mega Sableye. I originally had Return over it, but I realized having Return on a Substitute + Swords Dance set meant getting walled by Mega Sableye as it is immune to both of its STAB attacks.

importable

Diggersby @ Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Return
- Quick Attack
- Earthquake
- Fire Punch

Diggersby is the second member of my team. Choice Band Diggersby is insanely strong, it only has two switchins in the entire metagame: Avalugg and Mega Slowbro, both of which are not common. Ice is terrible in Monotype, and both Water and Psychic enjoy other Mega Evolutions over Mega Slowbro most of the time. It may seem weird having two physical attackers on one balance Normal team, but I think that it compliments Bewear rather well. Diggersby and Bewear form a really nice wallbreaking core, and covers each others weaknesses. Bewear breaks through the Steel and Dark teams that Diggersby may have trouble with because of both of them carrying Protect on defensive Pokemon rather often. Diggersby beats types like Poison and Electric that Bewear has trouble with because of its poor Speed stat and lack of Return, making it unable to hit Mega Venusaur for much damage. Strong priority in Quick Attack is great for picking off random things for the team.

importable

Chansey (F) @ Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
- Thunder Wave / Toxic
- Stealth Rock
- Seismic Toss
- Soft-Boiled

Chansey is the main special wall of all good Normal teams. With Eviolite, it's also very bulky physically too, being able to take atacks like Choice Scarf Excadrill's Earthquake for the team comfortably. I have Thunder Wave on Chansey to really spread paralysis and slow Pokemon down for Bewear, but Toxic can also be an option for Defog users like Zapdos, Rotom-W, and Mandibuzz.

importable

Porygon2 @ Eviolite
Ability: Trace
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic / Thunder Wave
- Ice Beam
- Foul Play
- Recover

Porygon2 is the main physical wall of the team. Chansey is fat physically, but it can't take everything, especially not stronger attacks from Pokemon like Choice Band Excadrill, Dragonite, and Tapu Bulu, so that's mainly where Porygon2 comes in. Trace is much better than Download right now. This team doesn't need Download's coverage, as Bewear and Diggersby beat Steel well enough to the point where the HP Fire and Discharge combo is downright useless. Trace itself is great for copying many different useful abilities like Tornadus-T's Regenerator, Gliscor's Poison Heal, Dragonite's Multiscale, and Kommo-o's Soundproof, to name a few. Foul Play is for Mega Scizor, and Toxic can be used to spread poison, while Thunder Wave slows things down for our two wallbreakers. Ice Beam hits Pokemon like Gliscor, Landorus, Dragonite, and Garchomp for super-effective damage.

importable

Ditto @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Imposter
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 SpA / 0 Spe
Relaxed Nature
- Transform

Ditto is a great Pokemon on Normal because of its ability to outspeed essentially anything it's trying to revenge kill, bar opposing Choice Scarf users and Hawlucha. It glues the team together by revenge killing Pokemon that threaten the team altogether, mainly setup sweepers and wallbreakers that threaten to rip apart the defensive core. Examples include: Mega Lopunny, Mega Gallade, Choice Band Excadrill, Dragonite, and Mega Altaria. It's also useful against defensive cores because it can PP stall Pokemon like Celesteela by repeatedly copying and decopying the opposing team.

importable

Pidgeot-Mega @ Pidgeotite
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hurricane
- Heat Wave
- Roost
- Defog

Mega Pidgeot is one of two good mega evolutions on Normal, the other one being Mega Lopunny. Mega Pidgeot fits better on this team because the team is in dire need of a Special Attacker alongside a Defog user, so running Defog Mega Pidgeot is a good way to compress the two roles. Having a Defog user on Normal is important in order to keep off various hazards, like Spikes and Toxic Spikes that cripple the team. Even Stealth Rock can be a bit obnoxious when you'll be switching a ton as Normal. Otherwise, Mega Pidgeot can threaten types like Grass, Water, Steel, Dragon, and Psychic with powerful Hurricanes and Heat Waves, and Roost is used for longevity. Overall a Pokemon I feel is underrated, both as a Special Attacker and a Defog user.

Threatlist
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Physical wallbreakers

Normal teams generally hate physical wallbreakers, as those Pokemon in particular can break the team if not played around carefully. This includes Choice Band users like Zeraora, Victini, Dragonite, Mamoswine, various Tapu Bulu sets, as well as Fighting types like Mega Gallade and Mega Lopunny. Not having Staraptor to take on most of these Pokemon is not great either. Try to play around these Pokemon carefully by trying to spread status and revenge killing them using Ditto, Diggersby, and Mega Lopunny. Ditto in particular can outspeed them which is very useful.

Water teams

Water has always been an iffy matchup against Normal because of Pokemon like Toxapex, Keldeo, and Suicune, making the matchup lopsided. Toxapex can spread status using Toxic Spikes, Keldeo threatens the entire team as soon as it comes out, and Suicune proceeds to PP stall using Substitute + Protect along with the support of Toxapex's Toxic Spikes. Against Water, be aware that Mega Pidgeot can Defog on Toxapex as long as it isn't carrying Toxic, and can use Roost to shrug off the damage from its Scalds. It also revenge kills Keldeo, which is huge, and can run Toxic to surprise Suicune, but that's optional. Wallbreakers like Diggersby and Bewear help with Toxapex too. If its rain, then Porygon2 can wall Mega Swampert while Chansey can counter Kingdra and Seismitoad.

Psychic teams

Psychic teams have the potential to be a huge headache towards this team because of its wallbreakers as well as Mew stallbreaking the defensive core. Choice Band Victini, Mega Gallade, and Choice Band Metagross are a headache to deal with. As said before, spreading status like paralysis and poison helps with the wallbreakers, and Mega Pidgeot can annoy Mew with Hurricane and Roost. Ditto can also revenge kill the wallbreakers.

Fighting teams

Although atrocious in Monotype, Fighting is a bad matchup for Normal teams to face. This team has an even worse matchup because it doesn't have Staraptor, which means Terrakion can sweep more easily with Close Combat. However, you can try to outplay using Mega Pidgeot and Ditto, Mega Pidgeot outspeeding everything bar Choice Scarf users like Terrakion and Heracross, and Ditto copying certain Pokemon like Mega Gallade to try and put in work. Bewear can also serve as a soft check to Choice Scarf Terrakion with Fluffy.

Shoutouts

shoutouts

shoutouts to mono auth namely Mateeus, Attribute, LuckyPiper, Tapo Collino, maroon and Ticken; since u guys are the main people i talk to on PS/discord and are chill. Crew people: banks, TPP, curiosity, lyd, Eien, martha, Estronic, nui, Yuichi, Colonel M, Stoward, Jordy, Mannat, Juuno, Jho and xavgb; ive been in crew for a while now and its great to have ppl like u guys to talk to; the main people i know outside of mono dudes
@ mono community for being amazing

Importable

importable

Bewear @ Fightinium Z
Ability: Fluffy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Substitute
- Earthquake
- Drain Punch
- Swords Dance

Diggersby @ Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Return
- Quick Attack
- Earthquake
- Fire Punch

Chansey (F) @ Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
- Thunder Wave / Toxic
- Stealth Rock
- Seismic Toss
- Soft-Boiled

Porygon2 @ Eviolite
Ability: Trace
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic / Thunder Wave
- Ice Beam
- Foul Play
- Recover

Ditto @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Imposter
EVs: 248 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Transform

Pidgeot @ Pidgeotite
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hurricane
- Defog
- Heat Wave
- Roost

Replays

replays

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-1028278296
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-1028278351
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-1006498181
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-1028291617

Conclusion
Thanks to everyone who read this, and feel free to give me suggestions on the team below! SM is my favorite generation of Monotype because of how versatile everything is, which makes teambuilding interesting. If you ever feel like playing a match any time, I'm always down to play.​