Monotype Poison-Hex+Venoshock Team

The Gang

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drapion.png
gengar.png
nidoqueen.png
qwilfish.png
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Hello! My name is Beets. I am fairly new to competitive Pokemon but I am loving what I have experienced so far. I recently discovered the Monotype metagame. As Crobat is my favorite Pokemon, I decided to try my hand at a mono-poison team. I have seen some nice successes, and have been having a lot of fun! However, I find myself losing to flying teams. Also any team that has any steel Pokemon on them at all.

Because I rely on setting toxic spikes and then sweeping with Hex, my gameplan is very 1) predicatable 2) easy to negate and 3) stupid. If you have any Pokemon that flies or levates, you are completely exempt from my win condition. If you have any steel-types at all, you are the win condition. If you can outspeed / outlive choice scarfed-hexing-Gengar, then you've beaten me.

Here are a few examples of my recent experiences. Notice that in these matches I forgot to invest EVs into Gengar and Venusaur (lol).

Against a competent fire team.
Against a friendly dark team.
Against a rude ground team.
Against an asshole who assumed Venusaur was my win condition.

Although I have not played against a competent flying team, I know that I would (probably) be unable to win as most of my moveslots are allocated by entry hazards and venoshock (lol). If I had access to a poison-type Pokemon that could learn the move GRAVITY then all of my problems would be solved. However, as of this writing, the only Pokemon that meets those requirements is Arceus, who, also as of this writing, is banned from Monotype.

I have changed a few things since those replays. I have replaced curse with hp fire on Venusaur. I have also invested EVs into my Gengar and Venusaur. Anyway, this is a fun team. I don't know if this sort of mono-poison team is common or not. I hope you have all enjoy reading this team, and can help me improve on my team's weaknesses.



Crobat


crobat.gif

Crobat @ Black Sludge
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Toxic
- Roost
- Taunt

Crobat is my go-to Pokemon for any team that I ever make. Crobat's base 130 speed used to mean something before power creep. Infiltrator has saved me so many times, it's not even funny. There was a mono-grass team with an ancientpower-suction cup-Cradily that I probably only beat because I could toxic it through its substitute. And yeah, taunt and roost are almost always on Crobat, as he outspeeds most set-up sweepers. His typing and STAB brave bird are also very useful for taking down the likes of Heracross and Mega Pinsir. Oh, and he isn't afraid of ground-types. Heck yeah.



Drapion


drapion.gif

Drapion @ Air Balloon
Ability: Battle Armor
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Knock Off
- Whirlwind
- Toxic Spikes
- Rain Dance

Drapion is not just an obligatory psychic-check; Drapion is one half of my win condition. Set up one or even two sets of toxic spikes around my opponent's team, and the entire team (bar fliers, levitators, steel-types, Pokemon with immunity, and poison-types) is ready to be swept with either Hex or Venoshock from Gengar. Knock off is a powerful STAB move. Whirlwind is for phazing Pokemon that assume they can set-up on Drapion. It's also pretty hilarious that Drapion can learn whirlwind. I put rain dance on Drapion because Fire-teams absolutely wreck me. When Drapion uses rain dance, people also immediately assume my Qwilfish is a swift swimmer; so they actually leave Drapion alive and stall out the rain! It's pretty funny and can play mind games with the opponent. Air balloon turns Drapion into a zero-weakness Pokemon. Often times players forget I have it, and use earth moves on me anyway. It works.


Gengar



gengar.gif

Gengar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hex
- Venoshock
- Psychic
- Will-O-Wisp

Choice. Scarf. Gengar. What outspeeds choice scarf Gengar? Choice scarf Crobat! That's right! I almost always save Gengar for when I am confident that I can sweep the rest of my opponents team with either hex or venoshock, depending on what my opponent has left alive. Choice scarf Gengar outspeeds other choice scarf users. This is pretty awesome. Psychic is there for coverage, although I have yet to have seen it's usefulness. Will-O-Wisp is there for steel types and is pretty hilarious lol. I went back and forth on life orb and choice scarf, and life orb is just never gets the job done. I can't see this set working without the scarf. lol



Nidoqueen


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Nidoqueen @ Expert Belt
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 HP / 212 Def / 44 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Ice Beam
- Earth Power
- Flamethrower

Nidoqueen is the other half of my entry hazard core. Stealth rocks is almost a necessity if I want to stand a chance against flying teams, and even then they can just defog all of my work away. The rest of her moveset is simple coverage. Sheer Force Earth Power is a guaranteed 2HKO on Lucario, and her defensive EV investment allows her to tank EarthQuake and still have approximately 50% hp. Nidoqueen also provides a key ground typing, giving her synergy with Crobat, who is otherwise volt switch bait for the never-ending usage of Rotom.



Qwilfish


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Qwilfish @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Poison Jab
- Aqua Jet
- Explosion

Qwilfish. This Pokemon is no joke. Qwilfish is my only water-type Pokemon and also my only physical attacker at all. Qwilfish has saved me countless occasions, including being able to clean up my ground-type opponents. I messed around a lot with swift swim combined with Drapion's rain dance, but found myself always up against Mega Charizard, leaving me with no choice but to poison jab (or explode). Poison jab is an excellent STAB move that has a 30% chance to poison, which can be crucial if I am against a flying or levitating opponent. Intimidate has allowed me to survive a sun-boosted flare blitz from scarfed Darmanitan, and, after stealth rock and toxic damage upon entry, Qwilfish is actually able to finish him get a significant amount of damage in with Aqua Jet. Charizard, who brings the sunlight and avoids toxic spikes, also does not appreciate a life orb-boosted aqua jet. Qwilfish is a formidable Pokemon that can effectively clean up many a weakened team, so long as they aren't all choice scarfed.



Mega Venusaur


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Venusaur @ Venusaurite
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Giga Drain
- Synthesis
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Sludge Bomb

Mega Venusaur provides the glue to make my team even somewhat viable. Verses grass teams, it can almost sweep the opponent single-handedly with its powerful Sludge Bomb. Mega Venusaur is also my only special attack sponge. Without Mega Venusaur, threats such as Galvantula and Scizor would sweep my team without any trouble. I have forgone curse for hp fire because of the previous two mentions. Steel types are also the bane of my existence, and so it would be folly not to fun it. Mega Venusaur is also capable of taking Earthquakes from Pokemon that run it as a coverage option such as Heracross and Lucario. Synthesis is necessary for longetivity, and giga drain is my prefered STABed grass-move of choice. Synthesis would also probably be invaluable versues the many sunny fire teams that I am pitted against in the lower rungs of the ladder, but my forgetting to invest in EVs has not proven that to be true. I run overgrow over chlorophyll so that I can tank a hit as I Mega Transform and then heal, as opposed to making the first move, getting hit, and then dying the next turn because I DON'T go first.





In conclusion, this is a very fun team to run, but I don't really win lol. If I could use Arceus that ran a GRAVITY set, I might win once. If you are up against assault vest Volcarona, you won't be able to take off 50% of its HP with Gengar's Hex. So, don't try it. I hope to see all of you out there on PS!
 
Hello beets,


interesting team concept you got there. Toxic Spikes +Hex/Venoshock isn't something you see everyday.
I feel like this team is somewhat weak against Skarmory, bulky ground teams, and offensive Fire.

First, I would recommend changing Drapion's set to a more fast, offensive one, without Rain Dance (you only use it for Qwilfish which doesn't have that much sweeping potential and is brought down easily..)

Drapion @ Air Balloon/Focus Sash
Ability: Sniper
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Taunt
- Toxic Spikes
- Earthquake/Rock Slide/Filler

This set helps you out against other hazard setters/set up sweepers at the beginning of the match, while still providing Toxic Spikes and offensive pressure towards the opponent.


I would also replace Qwilfish with something that hits way harder while still helping you out against Ground/Steel: Toxicroak.

Toxicroak @ Life Orb
Ability: Dry Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly/Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Gunk Shot/Ice Punch
- Drain Punch
- Sucker Punch

or a special set if you prefer:

Toxicroak @ Life Orb
Ability: Dry Skin
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Sludge Bomb
- Vacuum Wave
- Dark Pulse/Hidden Power Ice

these sets are from the UU analyses of Toxicroak, showing what it can do best: Set up mid- or late game and sweep through the opponent's team.


With Qwilfish gone, your team loses the access to Intimidate, making it more vulnerable towards physical attackers. Venusaur functions great as a wall-y pokemon, and you don't really need it to sweep through grass teams since you're using mono Poison anyways :p

Venusaur @ Venusaurite
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 248 HP / 116 Def / 144 SpD
Bold Nature
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Synthesis
- Hidden Power Fire/Leech Seed

This is pretty much the set you are using, just bulkier overall while still helping you out vs. stuff like Ferrothorn



I hope this is somewhat helpful! Love to see teams like yours.
 

iLlama

Nothing personal, I protect my people
Hey beets. That's an interesting Poison team you have there. The concept of Hex+Venoshock can be a real threat to so many teams if used effectively. With that in mind, I will give you a rate and hopefully provide some improvements that can be made in order to help your team out.

The first thing I noticed after looking over your team concept and build, is that Crobat is kind of awkward on this team. Although it can be an extremely fast Utility option, it doesn't really provide anything stalling opposing Pokemon and switching on threats. Because of this, I would suggest you switch Crobat -> Scolipede and utilize a strong Physical option over Taunt/Toxic Stall. Scolipede gives you your most reliable and dangerous option against Psychic, as well as a threat against Dark and other types. I would recommend using a Choice Band set over Swords Dance/Life Orb as it provides a stronger guaranteed Physical damage output and an extremely high chance for an OHKO on Slowbro with hazards up.

252 Atk Choice Band Scolipede Megahorn vs. 252 HP / 232+ Def Slowbro: 336-396 (85.2 - 100.5%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

It also provides for strong output against Fire, Rock, and Flying, which could be huge threats against your team composition.
Scolipede @ Choice Band
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Megahorn
- Poison Jab
- Rock Slide
- Baton Pass / Earthquake / Aqua Tail

Moving on to Drapion, I would recommend turning it into your fast, utility option over Crobat. Thus, changing the EV Spread to 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spe with a Jolly Nature would provide the most beneficial opportunities for your team. The set for Drapion, for the most part is fine, however, Rain Dance is completely unnecessary. Although some people may think you run a Swift Swim Qwilfish, in reality, Qwilfish most likely won't be a threat against most teams, especially approaching mid to high ladder, and so people don't need to worry about it being fast and in the rain with a STAB boost. Back to Drapion, you should definitely run Taunt over Rain Dance because Drapion needs a reliable Defog/Stall option since its purpose on your team is as a Toxic Spikes setter. You can also try out running Toxic over Whirlwind if you'd rather have a counter for Flying Pokemon such as Zapdos, rather than a set-up check. Moving on to Gengar, Choice Scarf is an interesting speed option, and paired with Speed Boost Scolipede can be a major threat against teams, especially Psychic. However, I would suggest changing Psychic -> Focus Blast as Psychic doesn't provide any necessary support for your team, while Focus Blast gives you support against Steel and Normal with can be huge problems for Poison teams. I would also change Will-O-Wisp -> Destiny Bond because scarf Destiny Bond can help much more than being locked into a status option. It provides you with a reliable out in case you have run out of options for threat containment, especially for base 108 scarf users. It also comes in handy if you need to remove a set-up sweeper rather than using Whirlwind on Drapion. Next, I noticed you were using Nidoqueen as your Rock-Setter, but a rather odd set at that. Because of your team concept however, I would change Nidoqueen to Nidoking as an offensive hazard setter. I would use the same moveset you have on Nidoqueen, however I would use Life Orb and change its spread to 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe with a Timid Nature. This way you have a reliably dangerous special option that isn't Choice Locked, has an immunity, has access to amazing coverage options and can be a huge threat to opposing teams overall. Now, because of how your team is oriented, around the use of Toxic Spikes/Rocks abuse, you need your own hazard option, as well as a Specially Defensive option. Because of this I would recommend you change Qwilfish -> SpD Tentacruel. Qwilfish is really awkward, not only on this team, but on teams in Monotype in general. It has very poor stats and doesn't provide anything very beneficial besides a priority move in Aqua Jet. With Tentacruel, however, your team now has a fast, bulky hazard controller as well as access to an amazing status options in Scald.
Tentacruel @ Black Sludge
Ability: Liquid Ooze
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Scald
- Acid Spray
- Rapid Spin
- Knock Off

Lastly, your team still lacks many physical options, so I would change Mega Venusaur to Physical Curse with a spread of 248 HP / 236 SpD / 24 Spe. Curse Mega Venusaur is extremely underrated with how dangerous it is and how difficult it can be to break. This in turn will give a strong option against matchups such as Ground, Normal, and Water teams, which still have immense usage as of late. The spread allows for bulk and good coverage options while keeping it as a major threat for your team.
Venusaur-Mega @ Venusaurite
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 248 HP / 236 SpD / 24 Spe
Careful Nature
- Petal Blizzard
- Earthquake
- Curse
- Synthesis

Please provide an import of your team when posting an RMT as it makes rating much easier.

With that, I will end my rate. I hope my suggestions will help you out and make your team even more successful. Good luck!
 
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thank you both for your suggestions. i will take both strobgly into consideration. iLlama i am somewhat hesitant to switch out crobat for scolipede because then i lose any hope of putting toxic on flying types and lose a powerful flying-type move in brave bird. in practice, crobat has served me much good outside of stalling, but i digress. i will test out the switch.

heybbygal i have tried out toxicroak to limited success. he isn't THAT much better than qwilfish and he does nothing for my fire weakness. however, i will still test him out.

also i will post an exportable in the future. thanks to both of you. i shall give an update sometime in the future.
 

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