Other Metagames Previously a triple scarf team but now? [Monotype Steel]

[SubMindRaikou]

Teambuilding Process
It started out as a simple FWG Steel core. After learning a bit about cores in VGC I decided to try one out for Steel, and since the fantasy core is unavailable for Steel monotypes I had to go with the FWG core.

After testing this core out in a few different ways I decided that it was weak to being stalled out by Mega Venusaur, Mega Sableye and Chansey, with Infernape posing a problem with SE coverage on everything so I added a Jirachi who covers all of those well with Psyshock + Moonblast and is neutral to fighting moves.

Jirachi was originally a scarf pokemon with U-Turn, and to complete a semi voltturn core I added on Magnezone, which also helped with problematic Water matchups.

At this point I realized that I was in need of hazard removal and a mega, however I did not want to use Scizor since it has bad synergy with defog on a hazard stacking team so I went mega-less steel and chose Excadrill.

After playing for a bit with this team I got really bored and made some pretty big changes. I switched from a FWG core to a Voltturn core, kind of. Instead I just have a Volt switch + Volt switch core, which gets stopped by Ground but hopefully I have the plays to make up for it. So I ended up taking out Ferrothorn, Empoleon and Jirachi, and replacing them with Mega Scizor, Bisharp, and Forretress.

The *NEW* Team

Heatran @ Air Balloon
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 228 HP / 252 SpA / 28 Spe
Rash Nature
- Lava Plume / Magma Storm
- Earth Power
- Stone Edge / Taunt
- Hidden Power [Ice] / Toxic

Heatran has always been one of the best pokemon for a Steel type mono, and this one is no exception. The first part of this team provides an all important immunity to fire thanks to its ability, Flash Fire, letting it switch into things like Will o Wisp and Overheat. The move choice might look a bit strange, so let me explain. Stone Edge is there to let Heatran better check Volcarona and Non Focus Blast Charizard, since it does more damage than its counterpart Ancient Power. Earth Power are for opposing Heatran, and Lava Plume over Fire Blast for the nifty burn chance. HP Ice lets me OHKO pokemon that I either wall or have to hit me with a move that 3hkos, such as Garchomp and some Gliscor. The trapping set (Magma Storm, Taunt, Toxic) has been slashed on to be able to trap threats like Mega Sableye and Chansey and beat non magic bounce users with Taunt and Toxic. The EVs are simple, maximum special attack and a rash nature increase my special attack to acceptable levels, and the - special defense is to increase the chance of living a CC from life orb infernape. 28 Speed lets me outspeed uninvested 80s, such as Mega Venusaur since outspeeding and revenging it can be important. The rest is thrown into HP to take attacks better.

Forretress @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Rest
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Volt Switch

A semi gimmicky Forretress set, with wacky evs and move choice. Starting from top to bottom, the ev spread maximizes special defense. While this may seem kinda redundant since this is trying to replace Ferrothorn, who is the better special wall, maximum special defense investment lets me set hazards against as many things as possible, as 248 HP leaves me bulky enough to stay around and throw hazards for a bit against physical attackers with out SE moves. Resto Chesto is there since the original item, leftovers, just didn't help me enough. The main reason to use Forretress over Ferrothorn is toxic spikes, so originally I had that in the first slot. However after getting past 1300 elo the teams got better, and I started using toxic spikes less and less, eventually replacing it with resto chesto as a cool one time full hp recovery. The only reason I've kept Forretress still is because of the last move, Volt Switch, which lets me act as a slow turn, getting in weaker pokemon into certain threats such as Heatran and Magnezone, who don't want to switch into a EQ or any move that removes air balloon or sturdy.

Bisharp @ Lum Berry
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Knock Off
- Sucker Punch
- Iron Head

The next pokemon is Bisharp. I chose the Lum SD set since it can 6-0 ghost if played correctly, with Lum being able to set up on something and then going ham with Knock Off or Sucker Punch until nothing is left, and if anything is left the rest of my team can revenge it. Practically the only thing on Ghost wanting to take a hit is full HP Aegislash hoping for a Sacred Sword OHKO or Mega Sableye, which can both be dealt with since Heatran really weakens Aegislash and beats Mega Sableye, and Bisharp beats Aegislash anyway at +2.

Scizor @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 16 Def / 200 SpD / 44 Spe
Impish Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Bug Bite
- Swords Dance
- Roost
My new mega pokemon is Mega Scizor. With this somewhat strange set I can break past a ton of teams, and with Bisharp it forms a nice double wincon vs types like Psychic, Normal and basically anything that gets swept by +2 Bisharp and +2 Mega Scizor. Scizor also really helps against fairy and rock, 2 types that are already easy but Mega Scizor is my icing on the cake and their nail to the coffin. The ev spread is a lazy steal from the defensive smogon spread, with the 44 atk evs moved to speed to creep base 80s once I mega, and because after a few SDs the attack evs don't really make much of a difference with 2HKOs and OHKOs.

Magnezone @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon
Magnezone was the next pokemon to join the team and has proved itself as useful. It's job is simple, hit hard then run. Volt Switch provides nice momentum, and can hit hard against Water teams once their Electric switch-in has been taken out. I also noticed that I had been avoiding Steel type moves a bit too much, and so Flash Cannon was added. I switched to Sturdy to be able to take a hit and still keep on going, as Analytic boosts aren't really worth it without going all in and using Choice Specs. HP Ice was added on once I realized that it still doesn't hurt switch-ins that much, since they can then switch out to their Grass switch-in. Instead HP Ice lets me OHKO pokemon like Garchomp and Landorus I, which would pose a problem to this team with something that hits heatran to remove air ballon + earth move + able to beat Mega Scizor 1v1.

Excadrill @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Rapid Spin
- Iron Head
The hazard removal. Excadrill is one of Steel's best and most common Choice Scarf pokemon. Everything on this set is standard, with dual STABS and Rock Slide to get Edgequake coverage. Rapid spin is to remove hazards from my side only, which helps in hazard stacking. The only noticeably different thing is that this Excadrill is on a team with 2 other Choice Scarf users, and so the opponent might not be prepared for this Excadrill also using a Choice Scarf.

importable

=== [monotype] VoltTurn Hazard Steel ===

VTH.Forretress (Forretress) @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Rest
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Volt Switch

VTH.Magnezone (Magnezone) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Flash Cannon

VTH.Heatran (Heatran) @ Air Balloon
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 228 HP / 252 SpA / 28 Spe
Rash Nature
- Lava Plume / Magma Storm
- Earth Power
- Stone Edge / Taunt
- Hidden Power [Ice] / Toxic

VTH.Bisharp (Bisharp) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Knock Off
- Sucker Punch
- Iron Head

VTH.Excadrill (Excadrill) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rapid Spin
- Rock Slide

VTH.Scizor-Mega (Scizor-Mega) @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 16 Def / 200 SpD / 44 Spe
Impish Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Bug Bite
- Swords Dance
- Roost

PS: VTH. at the beginning of the names are for the damage calculator, it lets you know which team it came from :v

Credits to serebii, plhd and pokemondb since I stole all the sprites from them.​

 

[Josh]

Cool team man.

Have you considered Specs > Scarf on magnezone? Let's be real, Magnezone is really really slow and is still outsped by some stuff if scarfed. Specs gives it a lot of power. Plus, it allows you to abuse Analytic a bit more.

I'd also suggest Doublade > Jirachi. Your team is very weak to fighting and has no real ways of dealing with it, Doublade helps a LOT with that matchup. It can take on a ton of the top fighting mons completely solo, fighting has a very hard time dealing with it. It will just make that matchup so much easier.

Anyways, gl with your team. Looks solid.

 

[SubMindRaikou]

Cool team man.

Have you considered Specs > Scarf on magnezone? Let's be real, Magnezone is really really slow and is still outsped by some stuff if scarfed. Specs gives it a lot of power. Plus, it allows you to abuse Analytic a bit more.

I'd also suggest Doublade > Jirachi. Your team is very weak to fighting and has no real ways of dealing with it, Doublade helps a LOT with that matchup. It can take on a ton of the top fighting mons completely solo, fighting has a very hard time dealing with it. It will just make that matchup so much easier.

Anyways, gl with your team.

Specs onto Magnezone sounds like a good idea, even with analytic I still find myself wishing for just a bit more power (I once tried a expert belt set too get a little extra power xD).

Doublade over Jirachi also sounds nice since a switch in for Fighting moves sounds nice, and the main reason I had Jirachi was too nail Mega Sableye and Mega Venusaur and Chansey to an extent. However Specs Magnezone should take care of those with only a little bit of help needed for Chansey so that should be fine. It also blocks Spinners so it should make a nice fit in for this team. The only thing I am worried about is that SD + Shadow Sneak wont be able to hit Fighting types that hard but it should be fine if my other Scarfs can pick up the slack.

 

[Dece1t]

Teambuilding Process
It started out as a simple FWG Steel core. After learning a bit about cores in VGC I decided to try one out for Steel, and since the fantasy core is unavailable for Steel monotypes I had to go with the FWG core.

After testing this core out in a few different ways I decided that it was weak to being stalled out by Mega Venusaur, Mega Sableye and Chansey, with Infernape posing a problem with SE coverage on everything so I added a Jirachi who covers all of those well with Psyshock + Moonblast and is neutral to fighting moves.

Jirachi was originally a scarf pokemon with U-Turn, and to complete a semi voltturn core I added on Magnezone, which also helped with problematic Water matchups.

At this point I realized that I was in need of hazard removal and a mega, however I did not want to use Scizor since it has bad synergy with defog on a hazard stacking team so I went mega-less steel and chose Excadrill.

​

The Team

Heatran @ Air Balloon
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 SpA
Mild Nature
- Stone Edge
- Earth Power
- Lava Plume
- Stealth Rock

Heatran has always been one of the best pokemon for a Steel type mono, and this one is no exception. The first part of the FWG core provides an all important immunity to fire thanks to its ability, Flash Fire, letting it switch into things like Will o Wisp and Overheat. The move choice might look a bit strange, so let me explain. Stone Edge is there to let Heatran better check Volcarona and Non Focus Blast Charizard, since it does more damage than its counterpart Ancient Power. Earth Power are for opposing Heatran, and Lava Plume over Fire Blast for the nifty burn chance. Stealth Rock is there as the last move to get an important hazard since Heatran can force switches from pokemon locked into Fire type moves. The EVs are simple, with maximum HP to increase bulk and maximum special attack to hit as hard as possible.

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 248 HP / 60 Atk / 128 Def / 72 SpD
Careful Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Leech Seed
- Spikes
- Power Whip
The second pokemon to join the FWG core, since Heatran was already offensive I decided to use a defensive Ferrothorn spread to help with certain problems. Thunder Wave is there instead of Gyro Ball since this is a Steel monotype and so that move doesn't have as much use as paralyzing something. Leech Seed is used with Leftovers to gain important recovery, and Spikes is used to get hazards up. Power Whip is there to nail Water types and Rock types. The EVs allow Ferrothorn to survive Specs Keldeo Secret Sword and nail it pretty hard with Power Whip or Paralyze it. The 60 attack evs allow a OHKO onto Mega Diancie, with the rest of the EVs into special bulk to take scalds better and retaliate with Thunder Waves or Power Whips (if I don't get burned).

Empoleon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Grass Knot
- Signal Beam
To complete the FWG core I decided to use Empoleon. However I've never liked defensive Empoleon due to the lack of recovery, so I used PSM's Choice Scarf Empoleon, and it has worked wonders. It helps a lot with the Fire matchup, and can lend a hand in the Ground and Water matchups with Ice beam and Grass Knot respectively, and no one seems to expect a Choice Scarf Empoleon. The EVs maximize special attack and speed with a timid nature to patch up its base 60 speed.

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Calm Mind
- Psyshock
- Substitute
Jirachi was my next pokemon of choice. At first I was using a Choice Scarf set but after finishing my team I realized that I had a bit too many Choice Scarf pokemon in Empoleon, Jirachi, Magnezone, and Excadrill. Looking at all of those I decided that Jirachi would have to move, so I chose a Calm Mind set instead. Moonblast and Psyshock are there to hit Mega Sableye and Mega Venusaur respectively, and Calm Mind increases special attack and defense. For the last move I chose substitute because I have always liked Subtitute Calm Mind pokemon, and I didn't have a reason to run anything else.

Magnezone @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Analytic
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon
Magnezone was the next pokemon to join the team and has proved itself as useful. It's job is simple, hit hard then run. Volt Switch provides nice momentum, and HP Grass and Thunderbolt give good coverage on Water teams. I also noticed that I had been avoiding Steel type moves a bit too much, and so Flash Cannon was added. Analytic is there to hit switch ins really hard, such as a switched in Swampert trying to take a Thunderbolt for a teammate. HP Grass is there over Fire or Ice since I wanted the coverage on pokemon like Gastrodon who like to switch into Magnezone.

Excadrill @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Rapid Spin
- Iron Head
The hazard removal. Excadrill is one of Steel's best and most common Choice Scarf pokemon. Everything on this set is standard, with dual STABS and Rock Slide to get Edgequake coverage. Rapid spin is to remove hazards from my side only, which helps in hazard stacking. The only noticeably different thing is that this Excadrill is on a team with 2 other Choice Scarf users, and so the opponent might not be prepared for this Excadrill also using a Choice Scarf.

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/monotype-269526384 vs Fighting
The only replay I have at the moment with a very similar team, the differences being HP Ice on heatran and Flash Cannon on Jirachi.

importable

Heatran @ Air Balloon
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 SpA
Mild Nature
- Stone Edge
- Earth Power
- Lava Plume
- Stealth Rock

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 248 HP / 60 Atk / 128 Def / 72 SpD
Careful Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Leech Seed
- Spikes
- Power Whip

Empoleon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Grass Knot
- Signal Beam

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Calm Mind
- Psyshock
- Substitute

Magnezone @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Analytic
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon

Excadrill @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Rapid Spin
- Iron Head

scpinion tag

scpinion

​

Hey, nice steel team! I do have a couple suggestions tho thst can make it that much better:

Skarmory: your team can get swept by ground fairy easy, especially since Ferrothorn is primarily special defensive. You can probably put spikes on him instead so you can runmore useful utility such as knock off or Thunder wave, or even toxic. (I'd personally replace Jirachi).

Priority: Your team does lack this, and it can give you a bit of a less reliance on scarf. Mega Scizor and Bisharp are great mons for the job! (I'd lean towards replacing Magnezone or Excadrill).

Otherwise, you can probably do minor stuff such as popping hp ice on magnezone, or flash cannon over signal beam on emp. Great job otherwise I like it! :)

 

[SubMindRaikou]

Been a long time, looked at this RMT and decided, why not? Revamped with a slightly different team now, I'll also try and be cheeky and reply to the rates instead of just saying bump to see if I can save the bump for later :d

Cool team man.

Have you considered Specs > Scarf on magnezone? Let's be real, Magnezone is really really slow and is still outsped by some stuff if scarfed. Specs gives it a lot of power. Plus, it allows you to abuse Analytic a bit more.

I'd also suggest Doublade > Jirachi. Your team is very weak to fighting and has no real ways of dealing with it, Doublade helps a LOT with that matchup. It can take on a ton of the top fighting mons completely solo, fighting has a very hard time dealing with it. It will just make that matchup so much easier.

Anyways, gl with your team. Looks solid.

Magnezone: Specs > Scarf sounds good, however I really like Scarf since while it doesn't outspeed everything it still outspeeds everything it needs too, mainly unboosted things that I can voltswitch for tons of damage. However I did change the ability to Sturdy to allow me to check Hawlucha after an unburden boost which hopefully won't happen.

For Doublade, while it is nice against fighting I never found the room for it. Since I am hazard stacking I prefer Bisharp, as I prefer having a defog dissuader instead of a spinblocker. However I might try it out since sometimes I find myself wishing for a good spin blocker and a better matchup against Fighting.

Hey, nice steel team! I do have a couple suggestions tho thst can make it that much better:

Skarmory: your team can get swept by ground fairy easy, especially since Ferrothorn is primarily special defensive. You can probably put spikes on him instead so you can runmore useful utility such as knock off or Thunder wave, or even toxic. (I'd personally replace Jirachi).

Priority: Your team does lack this, and it can give you a bit of a less reliance on scarf. Mega Scizor and Bisharp are great mons for the job! (I'd lean towards replacing Magnezone or Excadrill).

Otherwise, you can probably do minor stuff such as popping hp ice on magnezone, or flash cannon over signal beam on emp. Great job otherwise I like it! :)

The reason I don't have skarmory right now is offensive pressure, I've changed the team quite a bit, but now the plan is too get hazards up with forretress and dissuade hazard removal with Bisharp to stop defogs and offensive pressure against all the spinners. However, even though my team has changed skarmory would still be a nice addition, but I am lacking a moveset that let's it put offensive pressure against my opponents to prevent hazard removal.

As for priority, I added a ton of it. I replaced Jirachi and Empoleon for Bisharp and Mega Scizor, and this team has benefited greatly from that.

I also did throw on HP Ice, which lets me check Lando I better, which is always nice as steel.

Also I have one question, does this post count as the bump even tho I tried to be cheeky and replied to peoples rates?

 

[Dece1t]

Try custap skarm out instead of forre. You can have it carry spikes, and Heatran with sr, and run taunt, tailwind, and brave bird as well. This similar set is common on HO steel teams.

 

[Vid]

Love the team tbh but I have a couple changes I think you should try
One thing is Custap skarm> fortress for setting up hazards since this team is more offensive.
Another thing you might wanna try is Magma Storm ballon tran the trapper (taunt, Magma Storm/E-Power/ Taunt/Toxic). This team is more offensive so I would recommend those suggestions to make it more effective. Overall love the idea of the team hope I helped.

 

[SubMindRaikou]

Try custap skarm out instead of forre. You can have it carry spikes, and Heatran with sr, and run taunt, tailwind, and brave bird as well. This similar set is common on HO steel teams.

Love the team tbh but I have a couple changes I think you should try
One thing is Custap skarm> fortress for setting up hazards since this team is more offensive.
Another thing you might wanna try is Magma Storm ballon tran the trapper (taunt, Magma Storm/E-Power/ Taunt/Toxic). This team is more offensive so I would recommend those suggestions to make it more effective. Overall love the idea of the team hope I helped.

Pls Forretress is the mascot of this team that makes it different.

While skarmory would help the ground weakness it doesn't help with momentum, at least how I was using it (tailwind, brave bird, stealth rocks, roost/taunt), as I preferred Forretress' ability to volt switch, it was nice to stop certain sweeps like from Garchomp scarfed into EQ once the balloon has been removed from Heatran.

For Heatran the trapping set is useful for all the chanseys that switch in so I'll slash it on, personally I prefer having moves like HP Ice and Stone Edge to check things like Lando I lacking focus miss and Volcarona.