Plague von Karma
Banned deucer.
Monotype is, as many know, a metagame where all Pokemon must share a type ("Same-Type Clause", as RoA calls it). As you would expect in RBY, Psychic and Normal are the definitive types to use, and largely define the metagame. However, Water is absolutely up there and can be considered equal in power level, due to the sheer power of Starmie and its cohorts. Starmie dominates lower-tier teams with its incredible coverage, access to Recover, and amazing Speed. It's very difficult for many types to deal with it, often folding outright. I do think this metagame can be explored more though, so maybe this post can give way to some discussion on it.
Here's a VR made by Volk that I absolutely agree with. I gave some reasonings alongside it, plus some teams I've built myself over the course of the past few months. I didn't add the teams with less than 6 Pokemon though, as they're...not really teams, are they? Haha.
S
These types define the meta through their lack of discernible weaknesses for most types to exploit, have solid flexibility and some of the strongest Pokemon in the game. They put a significant chokehold on the metagame and make it somewhat difficult for others to make an impact. If not given respect, they will run rings around anything else. However, they're by no means unbeatable.
Psychic
Sample Team
Psychic is ridiculous. You have effectively no weakness, along with some of the most powerful Pokemon in the game. Jynx is the most consistent Sleeper in the game, long and far, which gets better considering its access to moves like Counter to mess with aggressive leads (eg. Dodrio on Mono Normal, just watch out for the Hyper Beam). In addition, Alakazam, Starmie and Exeggutor are also available to make life tougher for virtually every lower-tier team. It does have a flexible 6th Pokemon as well, with Hypno and Mr. Mime being viable options; the latter having a notably nicer Water matchup with Thunderbolt.
Sample Team
Normal tends to have a worse lead than Psychic; I personally like Clefable and Dodrio, but Chansey can work too. Normal's main draw is that it has access to The Big 3: Chansey, Snorlax and the mighty Tauros. As you would expect, this gives Normal the best mid-game, long and far. Make no mistake though, Pokemon like Persian and Kangaskhan are still excellent on their own. Don't get too comfy with your Body Slams though, as Counter will definitely bring you back down to earth. I will say this is among the less flexible types among the top tiers, and it can be seen as linear since you're clicking Hyper Beam so much.
Sample Team
Water has the best coverage, with most of the Water-types of RBY having Blizzard to go alongside Surf. Furthermore, many have Thunderbolt on top of this. This, alongside Starmie's continued existence to threaten lower-tier teams with its sheer coverage and Recover, makes it fairly difficult to deal with. Poliwrath and Lapras give the type access to somewhat consistent Sleep too, which in tandem with Amnesia setup with Slowbro among other things, makes it very powerful. It's also quite flexible, with multiple ways to go about its game plan. It's the easiest to counterteam against out of the three top tiers, having a crushing matchup against Electric as you'd expect.
A
These types have a definitive aim and a solid matchup against the top types but are clearly less powerful than them. However, they are also way stronger than the types in B tier.
Flying
Sample Team
Flying is in a weird spot, clearly less powerful than the top types but far more potent than anything in B. Lead Charizard and Dodrio give it a solid matchup against Jynx from Mono Psychic, though sometimes they will run Starmie to alleviate this. Flying is notable for its access to all 3 Legendary Birds, giving it a team comp reminiscent of later generations, as well as some of the highest offensive potential. Besides this, having an entire team immune to Earthquake is pretty funny. It should be noted that Aerodactyl works well here too, as most Pokemon that wall it are reserved to specific teams, and its defensive typing gives it the capability of absorbing Hyper Beams. Furthermore, its fantastic Speed gives the team a big advantage when revenge killing threats. On top of this, since its 4th moveslot is often a dead one, it can use Toxic to support and fight ToxWrap-centric teams. There's also Butterfree for Double Powder access, as well as Scyther for Swords Dance sweeping, but the viability drops off a cliff.
B
Types here are usable but are best in counter-teaming due to their specific matchups. They're sometimes flexible enough to give you some liberty in teambuilding, have reasonable coverage against the top teams and have a defined aim.
Fire
Sample Team
Fire is surprisingly decent because of one thing: ToxWrap. With access to Lead Charizard, as well as Ninetales, the team has a fair shot in that spot. In addition, Charizard's access to Counter and the like makes it a nice lynchpin against Normal. Magmar provides the team with nice coverage in Psychic and Submission, as well as an additional Counter user. But the real meat is its access to 2 AgiliSpin users in Rapidash and Moltres, which can rack up massive damage once a team has been laced with Toxic/Poison. The main threat to it is Starmie though, which can single-handedly take a team out; Moltres is the team's only shot due to its extreme bulk, and it tends to only have one.
Sample Team
Poison is surprisingly flexible, despite its debilitating weakness to Psychic. You have two team comp possibilities: ToxWrap, or some kind of "standard". The team can lead off with Tentacruel to pretend to be Water, then Wrap pivot to Venomoth or Venusaur to sleep a threat by surprise. Most Poison-types have excellent coverage, like Nidoking, Weezing and Muk, which gives credence to its offensive capabilities. It should be noted that Nidoking also provides Poison with an Electric immunity, and thus a Thunder Wave one. Victreebel and Gengar exist too and are long and far some of the best Poison-types in the game. While you would call the type bad, the Pokemon really aren't.
Sample Team
Viability begins to drop here, but access to Zapdos is just great. Electric has the fastest Thunder Wave user in Electrode, which in a lead situation is guaranteed paralysis against the top teams due to their lack of part-Ground types. Electric has the best matchup against Water - almost guaranteed to win as a matter of fact - which makes it a great counter-team. Your coverage is pretty nice too, considering Electabuzz and Raichu's excellent movepools and customizable nature (AgiliChu anyone?). The team's main issue is it's virtually impossible to experiment with the Pokemon picks, as there's only 6 fully evolved Electric-types. As such, it's very inflexible, only Pikachu is a remote option and it's only for improving Rock/Ground matchups thanks to Surf access. Regardless, the team's para-spamming antics and flying-high nature makes it a fun team to use.
C
Types here suffer from many issues, often a lack of available Pokemon or too many debilitating weaknesses. You shouldn't use these types in a serious game, but they may surprise someone I guess.
Grass
Sample Team
Grass has 6 fully-evolved Pokemon, but one of them is Parasect, and even Exeggcute is better than it in most instances. Hell, Vileplume is poor as well, due to adding an extra Psychic weakness, with Ivysaur sometimes being looked to instead for Razor Leaf access. While it's very good at getting Sleep and other statuses off, Grass struggles a bit in the offensive department, being reliant on Venusaur and Victreebel's Swords Dance sets a lot of the time. In the end, you'll find yourself wanting to use ToxWrap strategies with Victreebel and Tangela, as the team struggles to find a definitive game plan outside of this. However, I think it has the most potential.
Sample Team
You have Lead Venomoth, a perfectly accurate Sleep move in Spore, tons of status, and the potential for an SD Scyther/Pinsir sweep, but the fun ends there. You're forced to use Beedrill and Parasect, for crying out loud...it's just sad. You can definitely play it and maybe win a game, but don't bet on it. Should be noted that the team is extremely resilient against Earthquake, which is interesting.
Sample Team
Ground looks good at first, but really, it's teetering on the edge between viability and sucking. You're borderline-immune to paralysis and Electric isn't gonna do anything, but Water is an instant loss unless your Nidoqueen and Nidoking let out some seriously good Thunderbolts. Plus, Psychic often has both Starmie and Slowbro for you to contend with. Besides this, Dugtrio is often forced to be your lead, which leaves the team without a reliable sweeper late-game...it's a weird conundrum.
Sample Team
The one good thing I can say about Rock is that Aerodactyl is a cool lead and it cores well with ToxBind Onix, thanks to its shit movepool forcing it to use Toxic anyway. Outside of this, you're pretty much outclassed by Water and Ground, as most Pokemon here would prefer to be there. Omastar and Kabutops don't synergize well with the team, but you're forced to use them due to a lack of better options. Rhydon and Golem's weaknesses are exposed in full as well...without any access to Thunder Wave, you're forced to Body Slam in a desperate attempt to spread it and maybe pull off the Rhydon endgame.
Sample Team
Fighting suffers from only having 5 fully-evolved Pokemon, but it can employ the use of Machoke to fill in the 6th slot and function surprisingly well. Poliwrath gives the team access to Sleep and an Amnesia user, as well as valuable special coverage. In addition, the type is one of the few capable of reliably hitting Normal-types. However, its weaknesses are far too large to compensate for: it's pitifully weak against special attacking types in general, let alone Psychic, and its general slowness makes it even more questionable. The biggest problem, if anything, is that you have to use Hitmonchan.
No
These types have an insufficient amount of Pokemon to form a team. You can technically make them, but they won't do well if only for opportunity cost.
Ice
Ice is so close to being a team that I can almost taste it. You get to blend Jynx and Articuno with Lapras and Cloyster...it's really nice on paper and has the potential to be an offensive powerhouse. However, viability drops off a cliff to Dewgong, and then you have no 6th Pokemon, as Seel and Shellder are Water-type. We can dream. There's some debate as to whether it may perform better than Fighting, I guess.
AgiliWrap team, essentially. Use Mono Flying with Dragonite for a better experience.
This is also Mono Poison. Make a Mono Poison team instead. I would argue Gengar + Haunter is a valid core for that type anyway for Anti-Wrap strategies, you're not losing out on anything.
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