Gen 2 RMT (GSC OU) Monomove Curse-Rest Tyranitar Team

[cherryb0ng]

IF YOU ARE READING THIS AFTER 2022 IT'S BEST NOT TO USE THIS TEAM WITHOUT CORRECTIONS.

I WILL NOT MAKE A NEW VERSION OF THIS TEAM. FEEL FREE TO EDIT INTO A GOOD TEAM.



Hi everyone. On PS I go by the tag of Cherryb0ng. This is my first RMT on the forum and I hope that this respects the rules of the RMT subforum.

I would like to give credit where it is due as far as the idea is concerned: I saw a set of SPL X in which Lavos used a team with this particular moveset of Tyranitar which consists of Roar, Rest, Curse and STAB rock slide as the sole attacking move.

I thought "Cool" so I decided to make a team based on this mon which reflects my style more. What I am posting here has already undergone revieiwing although I would like to have further criticism because I am only just learning what I need to be looking for when I make a team.

Exeggutor @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Stun Spore
- Leech Seed
- Psychic
- Substitute

This is a really good combination of support+offense not only because Psychic is not commonly resisted by many pokemon but also since it lures in mons which generally wouldn't like to get statused. I choose to run Stun spore instead of Sleep powder because A. It's the least expected of the two and B. this can make most physical attackers, such as Lax and Ttar more threatening against Zapdos and Kou, whom the opponent will most likely send in thinking he will absorb sleep move. Even without sleep powder, Egg is a pretty good lead and with the Sub Leech seed combination you will be able to maintain momentum even after the opponent will try to switch out from a machamp or nidoking (even Marowak potentially), two mons which threaten Tyranitar very much.

Raikou @ Leftovers
Ability: none
IVs: 14 HP / 28 Atk / 26 Def
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Water]
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Out of the 2 electric mons which threaten physical attackers and water mons, I had decided that Raikou was the better option out of the two for longevity. Thunderbolt will help it succeed at winning PP wars against other Raikous or Dos while still OHKOing the likes of Cloyster, a great force to be reckoned with. I run hp water over Ice because it does greater favours to a team which is threatened by ground types and will hit Steelix super effectively and the extra chip damage to Zapdos is made up for with the fact that it doesn't resist electric moves.

Tyranitar @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Rock Slide
- Curse
- Roar
- Rest

The star. I wouldn't recommend using this mon early in the game unless strictly necessary, for instance if a Fireblast Curse/Drum lax managed to take out skarmory and would otherwise begin steamrolling the team. The other reason is because there are way too many things which early on in the game will threaten or wall it (I am looking at the charm/growl users). The idea would be to use curse so as to inflict greater amounts of damage since you will have only so many rockslides. Switching into a paralysed Zapdos or Jynx will grant you most likely with a turn to curse. This moveset has, under the right circumstances, the offensive and defensive tools to shut down most Snorlax sets, as after 1 or two curses can absorb its earthquakes rather effectively and later proceed to rest if need be or roar it out.

Snorlax @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Double-Edge
- Earthquake
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Snorlax will be the defensive back bone of the team allowing raikou to synergise with it. Together these two should be more than able to take care of other Electric users and lovely kiss nidoking. I chose to run rest+sleep talk because if I have to clear the road of mono-Ttar's threats I will need to be able to do that over a long time span. I have thought of running Fireblast as an alternative to either sleep talk or Earthquake but I am more concerned about Nidoking than about the rather passive steel types.

Skarmory @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Whirlwind
- Toxic
- Rest
- Drill Peck

This is the bread and butter Skarmory set. It makes use of whirlwind to scout the enemy team and synergises well with raikou. This will be the primary phaser and should stay that way until you might other wise see a rampant Mixed Snorlax running something like Thunder or the more common Fireblast. Toxic can punish many mons trying to switch in (although with paralysis around I just save it for opposing snorlax mainly) while adding on to spikes damage. Drill peck is for further chip damage and can hit Machamp and Heracross which threaten the team.

Cloyster @ Leftovers
Ability: none
IVs: 14 HP / 28 Atk
- Hidden Power [Electric]
- Surf
- Spikes
- Explosion

This cloyster has the support and attacking power to threaten just the mons that tyranitar would want out of the way: it can switch in to Steelix and get free spikes if the opponent decides to switch out and hp electric can help to win potential spikes wars against other cloysters or starmies which switch in. If you asked me I would normally run toxic but I want to leave space for exeggutor to do its job and spread paralysis. Explosion can threaten electrics.

Importable:
​

Hide

Exeggutor @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Stun Spore
- Leech Seed
- Psychic
- Substitute

Raikou @ Leftovers
Ability: none
IVs: 14 HP / 28 Atk / 26 Def
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Water]
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Tyranitar @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Rock Slide
- Curse
- Roar
- Rest

Snorlax @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Double-Edge
- Earthquake
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Skarmory @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Whirlwind
- Toxic
- Rest
- Drill Peck

Cloyster @ Leftovers
Ability: none
IVs: 14 HP / 28 Atk
- Hidden Power [Electric]
- Surf
- Spikes
- Explosion

​

​

==========================================================================================

Thoughts: with my limited understanding I can't be sure whether this might be a viable team. A strategy is there and I begin to see some benifits from this particular set. Two phazers prove to be of great help, leaving you rarely unprepared for any sorts of setup shenanigans (I hate playing against baton pass) or just snorlax in general. One could argue that two moves might be better but I see that curse rest works well with Tyranitar whereas two moves without rest would work better with mons like Rhydon.
Mono move Tyranitar works differently from its usual mixed set, as it seems to work really well in the late game to sweep/cleanup but it can be really good at walling enemy snorlax, once you have figured out its entire moveset. Knowledge is the key here.

Most threats to tyranitar should be manageable with this team (they are a lot, mind you) between water, ground types, electrics which can 3hko it, steel types as well as umbreon and miltank which can wall it. An issue I have noticed is how matches seem to halt to an almost complete stop against the common Skarmory + Raikou core that spikes can only help so much with so I was considering running Fireblast on Snorlax. The other types that threaten this team are fighting and bug types, so Machamp and Heracross each with viable Bug/Fighting coverage therefore able to threaten Tyranitar and Exeggutor at the same time.

I want to thank Sceptross for having looked at my first version of this team (which I now realise was awful) and given me constructive criticism.

I would be very glad for any recommendations on the movesets/ideas in general and also advice, say if you wished to point out any glaring weaknesses which I haven't noticed.
Sorry if I wrote too much :)

 

[Jorgen]

No glaring weaknesses, seems very defensively solid. Fire Blast Machamp and Dpunch Tyrnanitar seem like they'd be pains in the butt to fight against, though. Relying on ST Lax (without Curse no less) as your only Nidoking answer can also get dicey with Spikes on the field. MixLax can also be a struggle to fight. But every team is going to have those one or two things that need to be "played around".

While defensively quite solid, there's not a ton of offensive synergy, so I can see scenarios where you cannot make progress but your opponent can. Your biggest ways to push things out of the middlegame involve Toxic from Skarmory, Stun Spore from Egg, and Spikes / Explosion from Cloyster. Of those, Egg's ability to stun Umbreon / Suicune and Cloyster's ability to clear Starmie out of the way seem particularly helpful for your Tyranitar plan. Apart from that, perhaps you fish for crits (e.g., killing Miltank with a Snorlax DE crit) or kill something by surprise with the EQ Sleep Talk Lax or the HP Water Raikou (such as, say, killing a Steelix or a Golem). Playing for surprise KOs can be swingy though.

Consistent success may require you to mix & match your Snorlax & Egg sets, particularly if you end up playing the same person several times (not at all uncommon on the GSC ladder) and you need to force them to respect the threat of, say, Fire Blast Curselax or Sleep Powder Exeggutor. Ttar can also be pulled off "win condition" duty and given coverage every now and again so those same folks don't hold too tightly onto Steelix ("Ttar is going to have Fire Blast, so may as well blow it up").

 

[cherryb0ng]

No glaring weaknesses, seems very defensively solid. Fire Blast Machamp and Dpunch Tyrnanitar seem like they'd be pains in the butt to fight against, though. Relying on ST Lax (without Curse no less) as your only Nidoking answer can also get dicey with Spikes on the field. MixLax can also be a struggle to fight. But every team is going to have those one or two things that need to be "played around".

While defensively quite solid, there's not a ton of offensive synergy, so I can see scenarios where you cannot make progress but your opponent can. Your biggest ways to push things out of the middlegame involve Toxic from Skarmory, Stun Spore from Egg, and Spikes / Explosion from Cloyster. Of those, Egg's ability to stun Umbreon / Suicune and Cloyster's ability to clear Starmie out of the way seem particularly helpful for your Tyranitar plan. Apart from that, perhaps you fish for crits (e.g., killing Miltank with a Snorlax DE crit) or kill something by surprise with the EQ Sleep Talk Lax or the HP Water Raikou (such as, say, killing a Steelix or a Golem). Playing for surprise KOs can be swingy though.

Consistent success may require you to mix & match your Snorlax & Egg sets, particularly if you end up playing the same person several times (not at all uncommon on the GSC ladder) and you need to force them to respect the threat of, say, Fire Blast Curselax or Sleep Powder Exeggutor. Ttar can also be pulled off "win condition" duty and given coverage every now and again so those same folks don't hold too tightly onto Steelix ("Ttar is going to have Fire Blast, so may as well blow it up").

So you recommend I alternate between snorlaxes and Egg? That might be all it takes in some remote cases. Technically if I absorb a LK from nido a full hp Egg is the one with the upper hand, (it seemed to me like it gets a strong advantage if it doesn't have to be concerned with status). Sadly I don't know if there is likely a sure-fire way of countering Mixed lax. I can say that I have enough of an idea of how to play against mixed lax on ladder and tend to be strategic with switches (though I noticed that stab eq can only do so much against a curse tyranitar).

That is also true that I don't have any definitive pressure on a Miltank (perhaps I should run Thunder or better yet an identical team with LK snorlax?)

 

[Jorgen]

Maybe. It's the "minimal intervention" way to make the team work.

Alternatively, the more I think about it, the more I think something like Curse Machamp might work well over Tyranitar. It's less solid against FBlast Snorlax and Jynx, but it does manhandle a lot of the things (e.g., Miltank, Umbreon, Rock/Grounds) that Ttar struggles with. It's a possibility if my prediction is right and you end up finding yourself "stuck", anyway.

 

[cherryb0ng]

Maybe. It's the "minimal intervention" way to make the team work.

Alternatively, the more I think about it, the more I think something like Curse Machamp might work well over Tyranitar. It's less solid against FBlast Snorlax and Jynx, but it does manhandle a lot of the things (e.g., Miltank, Umbreon, Rock/Grounds) that Ttar struggles with. It's a possibility if my prediction is right and you end up finding yourself "stuck", anyway.

I have noticed that in lieu of spikes one can use vaporeon and it works wonders for the team. Vap and exploding offense takes great care of a lot of threats.

 

[FriendOfMrGolem120]

When building a team with that Tyranitar set, I would ask myself one question: do I want use it mainly as a defensive check for non-EQ Snorlax on a defensive team or do I want to use it with the goal of making it a potential sweeper?
If you want to do the first, the team mates should be focused around winning the Spikes war and covering weaknesses.
If you want to aim for the second option, the team mates should try to remove the counters for Tyranitar.
Of course there sometimes can be a mix between the two options but you get the general idea.

An example of a Curse Tyranitar stall team can be seen in this replay used by ABR.
I think offensive monoTar teams are less explored than the defensive versions and I will focus on trying to use Tar as a sweeper for now with my suggestions.

I agree with Jorgen's judgement. On first glance your team looks quite solid and it doesn't have any weaknesses that can be immediately exploited. However, just like him, I also think the team will often lack means to break certain teams which will be really problematic since without a Spinner, you can't even hope to get in some kind of stalemate situation.
What I also don't like about the team is that some pokemon are really great at neutralising multiple of yours for example RestTalk Suicune and Umbreon can check your Snorlax, Tyranitar and Exeggutor really well and if you are unable to keep pressuring the opponent with Spikes, I can easily see it becoming really difficult for you to make progress.
Here are some suggestions that you could try. Note that I myself haven't played with offensive CurseTar teams very often and can't 100% guarantee that there isn't a better approach, but the following is what I would try out.

Use Double-Edge, Earthquake, Fire Blast, Self-Destruct Snorlax. That set is able to pressure Skarmory and ghosts and thus many stall teams will rely on Suicune or Umbreon to check it, once you have a few coverage moves revealed. You shouldn't explode on them too soon, but with the right timing you often should be able to trade with a mon that would check Tyranitar.
Because you lost your Nidoking check with that set change, I would try Zapdos instead of Raikou and Steelix instead of Skarmory. The latter helps you dealing with electrics which is important without Raikou or RestSnorlax. It can also sometimes take out waters that are checking it.
I'd then also try standard Explosion Exeggutor (Sleep Powder, Psychic, Giga Drain) first. It adds another pokemon that sometimes is checked by Suicune (if the player doesn't want to get their Skarmory put to sleep) and sometimes you can trade with it. Stun Spore could work as well but I like to have a sleep inducing move on my teams if possible. Giga Drain seems also useful vs Tyranitar which can be threatening to your team.

Here's my version you could try as well. You can keep HpElectric on Cloyster if you want. I just picked Toxic because I find it overall more solid (can pressure Starmie without being forced to explode, can put CurseLax on a timer).

Import

Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: none
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
IVs: 22 Atk / 26 Def
- Thunder
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Sleep Talk
- Rest

Snorlax @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Double-Edge
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
- Self-Destruct

Cloyster @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Surf
- Spikes
- Toxic
- Explosion

Steelix @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Earthquake
- Curse
- Roar
- Explosion

Tyranitar @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Rock Slide
- Curse
- Roar
- Rest

Exeggutor @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Sleep Powder
- Psychic
- Giga Drain
- Explosion

The version I just posted is quite weak to Jynx though. If it becomes too much of an issue you can also try the following one in which I kept Raikou as the electric of choice and replaced Exeggutor with a solid Nidoking check in Heracross.

Import

Raikou @ Leftovers
Ability: none
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
IVs: 14 HP / 20 Atk / 26 Def
- Thunder
- Hidden Power [Water]
- Sleep Talk
- Rest

Snorlax @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Double-Edge
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
- Self-Destruct

Cloyster @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Surf
- Spikes
- Toxic
- Explosion

Steelix @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Earthquake
- Curse
- Roar
- Explosion

Tyranitar @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Rock Slide
- Curse
- Roar
- Rest

Heracross @ Leftovers
Ability: None
- Megahorn
- Seismic Toss
- Sleep Talk
- Rest

You can also try Lovely Kiss on Snorlax over EQ or Fire Blast. The Steelix slot is also quite flexible as long as you choose a pokemon that either can lure Suicune/Vaporeon/Starmie or that is at least not easily countered by them. Exeggutor, Gengar, Golem or maybe even Thief Nidoking are mons you could try.

 

[cherryb0ng]

Thanks FriendOfMrGolem120 & Jorgen .
These are really helpful point. I have with the original team found lots of moments in wish I was walled by skarm and steelix, which is bad enough as it is, let alone how bad it could be to face a cune-bliss cune-kou core or umbreon. What would happen is I often had to predict a switch in to steelix with hp water.

I am curious to try out the team with hera which looks like it solves the problem of nidoking on this team. I guess Zapdos seems like an over all better threat than kou. I made this team with the idea of defense first but I don't consider it to be a stall team and I need offensive pressure.

 

[Rubiaa]

IF YOU ARE READING THIS AFTER 2022 IT'S BEST NOT TO USE THIS TEAM WITHOUT CORRECTIONS.

I WILL NOT MAKE A NEW VERSION OF THIS TEAM. FEEL FREE TO EDIT INTO A GOOD TEAM.



Hi everyone. On PS I go by the tag of Cherryb0ng. This is my first RMT on the forum and I hope that this respects the rules of the RMT subforum.

I would like to give credit where it is due as far as the idea is concerned: I saw a set of SPL X in which Lavos used a team with this particular moveset of Tyranitar which consists of Roar, Rest, Curse and STAB rock slide as the sole attacking move.

I thought "Cool" so I decided to make a team based on this mon which reflects my style more. What I am posting here has already undergone revieiwing although I would like to have further criticism because I am only just learning what I need to be looking for when I make a team.

View attachment 193145
Exeggutor @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Stun Spore
- Leech Seed
- Psychic
- Substitute

This is a really good combination of support+offense not only because Psychic is not commonly resisted by many pokemon but also since it lures in mons which generally wouldn't like to get statused. I choose to run Stun spore instead of Sleep powder because A. It's the least expected of the two and B. this can make most physical attackers, such as Lax and Ttar more threatening against Zapdos and Kou, whom the opponent will most likely send in thinking he will absorb sleep move. Even without sleep powder, Egg is a pretty good lead and with the Sub Leech seed combination you will be able to maintain momentum even after the opponent will try to switch out from a machamp or nidoking (even Marowak potentially), two mons which threaten Tyranitar very much.

View attachment 193144
Raikou @ Leftovers
Ability: none
IVs: 14 HP / 28 Atk / 26 Def
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Water]
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Out of the 2 electric mons which threaten physical attackers and water mons, I had decided that Raikou was the better option out of the two for longevity. Thunderbolt will help it succeed at winning PP wars against other Raikous or Dos while still OHKOing the likes of Cloyster, a great force to be reckoned with. I run hp water over Ice because it does greater favours to a team which is threatened by ground types and will hit Steelix super effectively and the extra chip damage to Zapdos is made up for with the fact that it doesn't resist electric moves.

View attachment 193143
Tyranitar @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Rock Slide
- Curse
- Roar
- Rest

The star. I wouldn't recommend using this mon early in the game unless strictly necessary, for instance if a Fireblast Curse/Drum lax managed to take out skarmory and would otherwise begin steamrolling the team. The other reason is because there are way too many things which early on in the game will threaten or wall it (I am looking at the charm/growl users). The idea would be to use curse so as to inflict greater amounts of damage since you will have only so many rockslides. Switching into a paralysed Zapdos or Jynx will grant you most likely with a turn to curse. This moveset has, under the right circumstances, the offensive and defensive tools to shut down most Snorlax sets, as after 1 or two curses can absorb its earthquakes rather effectively and later proceed to rest if need be or roar it out.

View attachment 193142
Snorlax @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Double-Edge
- Earthquake
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Snorlax will be the defensive back bone of the team allowing raikou to synergise with it. Together these two should be more than able to take care of other Electric users and lovely kiss nidoking. I chose to run rest+sleep talk because if I have to clear the road of mono-Ttar's threats I will need to be able to do that over a long time span. I have thought of running Fireblast as an alternative to either sleep talk or Earthquake but I am more concerned about Nidoking than about the rather passive steel types.

View attachment 193146
Skarmory @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Whirlwind
- Toxic
- Rest
- Drill Peck

This is the bread and butter Skarmory set. It makes use of whirlwind to scout the enemy team and synergises well with raikou. This will be the primary phaser and should stay that way until you might other wise see a rampant Mixed Snorlax running something like Thunder or the more common Fireblast. Toxic can punish many mons trying to switch in (although with paralysis around I just save it for opposing snorlax mainly) while adding on to spikes damage. Drill peck is for further chip damage and can hit Machamp and Heracross which threaten the team.


View attachment 193147
Cloyster @ Leftovers
Ability: none
IVs: 14 HP / 28 Atk
- Hidden Power [Electric]
- Surf
- Spikes
- Explosion

This cloyster has the support and attacking power to threaten just the mons that tyranitar would want out of the way: it can switch in to Steelix and get free spikes if the opponent decides to switch out and hp electric can help to win potential spikes wars against other cloysters or starmies which switch in. If you asked me I would normally run toxic but I want to leave space for exeggutor to do its job and spread paralysis. Explosion can threaten electrics.

Importable:
​

Hide

Exeggutor @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Stun Spore
- Leech Seed
- Psychic
- Substitute

Raikou @ Leftovers
Ability: none
IVs: 14 HP / 28 Atk / 26 Def
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Water]
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Tyranitar @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Rock Slide
- Curse
- Roar
- Rest

Snorlax @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Double-Edge
- Earthquake
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Skarmory @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Whirlwind
- Toxic
- Rest
- Drill Peck

Cloyster @ Leftovers
Ability: none
IVs: 14 HP / 28 Atk
- Hidden Power [Electric]
- Surf
- Spikes
- Explosion

​

​

==========================================================================================

Thoughts: with my limited understanding I can't be sure whether this might be a viable team. A strategy is there and I begin to see some benifits from this particular set. Two phazers prove to be of great help, leaving you rarely unprepared for any sorts of setup shenanigans (I hate playing against baton pass) or just snorlax in general. One could argue that two moves might be better but I see that curse rest works well with Tyranitar whereas two moves without rest would work better with mons like Rhydon.
Mono move Tyranitar works differently from its usual mixed set, as it seems to work really well in the late game to sweep/cleanup but it can be really good at walling enemy snorlax, once you have figured out its entire moveset. Knowledge is the key here.

Most threats to tyranitar should be manageable with this team (they are a lot, mind you) between water, ground types, electrics which can 3hko it, steel types as well as umbreon and miltank which can wall it. An issue I have noticed is how matches seem to halt to an almost complete stop against the common Skarmory + Raikou core that spikes can only help so much with so I was considering running Fireblast on Snorlax. The other types that threaten this team are fighting and bug types, so Machamp and Heracross each with viable Bug/Fighting coverage therefore able to threaten Tyranitar and Exeggutor at the same time.

I want to thank Sceptross for having looked at my first version of this team (which I now realise was awful) and given me constructive criticism.

I would be very glad for any recommendations on the movesets/ideas in general and also advice, say if you wished to point out any glaring weaknesses which I haven't noticed.
Sorry if I wrote too much :)

I think u might want pursuit on tar. Gengar mu isnt fun