I've used Smogon articles as reading material since gen 4/5 out of boredom, but I've only recently started getting into semi-competitive Pokemon battling on PS. So I'm in that stage where I'm still a noob, but experienced enough to recognize how nooby I am. After toying around with several different teams, spending hours watching replays from all over the ladder, and lurking threads here and there to get a feel for the current meta environment, I've decided to throw all that out the window and make a mono-flying team revolving around my favorite flying-type, Altaria, that I am determined to make work in the current OU.
Altaria @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Cotton Guard
- Roost
- Dragon Claw
*sigh* Since she had to have a place somewhere on this team without being deadweight, and since Gliscor would not appreciate a Heal Bell cleric support set, I decided to place her in the role of bulky set-up sweeper. This means that the rest of the team's job will be removing threats to her sleep until late-game when she can come in, set up, and clean up. I originally hoped to be able to Cotton Guard for bulk, Roost away any damage from that, and then DD-> Dragon Claw for the sweep, but this has won me a battle exactly once (replay at the bottom) out of ~20-30 battles-- I thought the move held promise as a +3 booster to make her bulky enough to set up multiple DDs, but it's simply too niche and she just doesn't have the stats. EQ is looking more and more attractive in its place, but ultimately I think I need to place her in a different role or else she'll keep dragging the team down. I've made special note that in most of my victories she went un-used the entire battle.
Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 184 Def / 252 HP / 72 Spd
Impish Nature
- Taunt
- Toxic
- Earthquake
- Roost
Taunt anti-lead/physical wall. Somewhat standard set on him with EVs taken from one of the sets on his 6th gen thread, although I think more Gliscors run Protect and Stone Edge over EQ and Roost. He is the rock that gives this team hope. His job is to prevent Stealth Rocks from getting up as well as halting any Scolipedes that think they can set up for free, and then sticking around for a while to 1. spread Toxic, 2. Absorb status, 3. wall physical threats in general, and 4. switch in to Electric-type threats that would love to sweep this team so he can threaten back with STAB EQ. He hates Rotom-W though, and with all the 'mons that are immune to Ground he can only do so much with EQ. Still, he has been invaluable so far (and I like his design nearly as much as Altaria's oops) and has pulled his weight ten times over. He also has wonderful synergy with Mantine, who can eat the Surfs and Ice Beams always headed his way, as well as being Ice-type bait for Weakness Policy Togekiss. His problem is that he is the only thing standing between Altaria and the Heal Bell set which I think would work much better, but he's just too good to give up.
Hawlucha @ Focus Sash
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Hasty Nature
- Acrobatics
- High Jump Kick
- Swords Dance
- Baton Pass
IVs: 0/31/0/x/0/31
This little guy is surprisingly effective. Hasty Nature and minimum bulk IVs are to help ensure the sash procs for the Unburden and Acrobatics boosts, or else there's no point to this set. Turn 1: Swords Dance, let opponent proc Sash and get Unburden boost for basically 2 Dragon Dances in 1 turn. Turn 2: Outspeed and KO with 330 BP Acrobatics (factoring SD/STAB/Sash usage) or HJK (which covers most flying resists, including Rock-types that Gliscor or Mantine might not be able to take care of, namely TTar), while outspeeding just about everything with the Unburden boost. While he can potentially sweep very well by himself, priority is everywhere *cough*Talonflame*cough* so it's hard for him to get more than 1 KO. Sand, Hail, and hazards also ruin this strategy, but I have 2 methods to deal with Hazards and the rest of the team is bulky enough to stall out weather while hopefully taking out the opposing weather setter. I believe Hawlucha has more potential than this, but it tends to catch people off guard and has performed excellently so far. I usually send him out early-mid game, but I'm thinking about having him take Altaria's place in the late-game cleanup department so I could simply focus on taking out priority/hazard/weather threats instead of whatever can prevent Altaria's late-game setup sweep (which is pretty much anything it seems).
Togekiss @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 Spd
Modest Nature
- Air Slash
- Shadow Ball
- Wish
- Dazzling Gleam
Dragonite's Weakness Policy set has garnered popularity due to Multiscale + bulk. Togekiss has enough offensive presence and bulk that she could also potentially make use of Weakness Policy, but without Multiscale she is at a significant disadvantage in comparison. However, Wish allows her to bait a (preferably special) SE attack to KO or force a switch with a +2 coverage move and healing back the damage in the same turn, having become a sizable threat at +2 with great coverage in Fairy/Flying/Ghost. I could use Aura Sphere instead of Shadow Ball, but Aegislash is a pretty important threat that could sweep the rest of the team if Gliscor or Mandibuzz have been disabled. Shadow Ball also makes this set a nasty surprise for Gengar, who would try to 2HKO Toge with TB/Sludge Wave and then take a +2 Shadow Ball to the face. Her problems are similar to SashLucha in that she can usually only score one or two KOs before being properly revenge-killed or having to switch out and losing the boost I wasted an item slot for. After trading the nature and some EVs for more power to secure more OHKOs, she's been fairly reliable so far. But I think that's mostly because no one ever sees it coming since they expect something like FlinchRachi. I would be open to an alternative set if it would work better with the rest of the team.
Mantine @ Assault Vest
Ability: Water Veil
EVs: 252 SDef / 252 HP / 4 SAtk
Calm Nature
- Scald
- Air Slash
- Ice Beam
- Signal Beam
I originally had a SubSeed Jumpluff in this slot, and when that was about as useless as I expected it to be I turned to Infestation Vivillon, who had done well for me before yet just doesn't seem to do it for this team. After reflecting on the numerous times I got swept by Cloysters, I picked Mantine. Neutral damage from Ice-type moves is the best I can ask for on an all-flying team, and Electric weakness + Water resistance on top of huge special bulk further enhanced by Assault Vest makes it the perfect partner for Gliscor as a defensive core (is that the right word for this? I hope I haven't been spouting nonsense). I also needed a tad more special offense than Togekiss, and Scald + Ice/Signal Beam add to the team's coverage. It's sort of like Assault Vest Goodra, just... worse. There is certainly a reason it's an NU 'mon. But for this team, it works nicely to fill in its holes.
Mandibuzz @ Leftovers
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 4 Def / 252 HP / 252 SDef
Careful Nature
- Defog
- Knock Off
- Roost
- Toxic
When you hear the word mono-flying the first thing you think is Stealth Rock. If Gliscor fails to prevent it from being put up, I would need either Defog or Rapid Spin, and with the stark lack of Flying-type spinners, I went with Defog. This is the reason I don't have a hazard setter, although getting rid of dual screens is a nice compensation. Anyways, I had been seeing lately how Mandibuzz was picking up steam as a wall and seeing as she could run Defog well I decided to take her for a spin myself. I'm surprised at how little I've needed Defog, but with the Knock Off buff and Toxic plus Roost she's performed very well for me. Since before Mantine I didn't have much of a special wall to speak of, I decided to invest completely into Mandi's special defense, which is only 10 points lower than her physical defense (105, 95). It's caught more than one opponent off guard since they expect physically defensive Mandi and send out a special attacker to deal with her, only to do 20-30% as she spreads Toxic further and heals back up with Roost and Leftovers. Even after Mantine's addition I haven't felt the need to re-invest into her physical Defense, although I am thinking of replacing Knock Off with Foul Play since she has been used as set-up bait more than once. If I do that, I probably will have to go all-physical on her, but I wouldn't mind too much. What I don't want to do is replace Defog, but it hasn't been that useful and something like Whirlwind to phaze setup sweepers would be welcome.
Altaria @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Cotton Guard
- Roost
- Dragon Claw
*sigh* Since she had to have a place somewhere on this team without being deadweight, and since Gliscor would not appreciate a Heal Bell cleric support set, I decided to place her in the role of bulky set-up sweeper. This means that the rest of the team's job will be removing threats to her sleep until late-game when she can come in, set up, and clean up. I originally hoped to be able to Cotton Guard for bulk, Roost away any damage from that, and then DD-> Dragon Claw for the sweep, but this has won me a battle exactly once (replay at the bottom) out of ~20-30 battles-- I thought the move held promise as a +3 booster to make her bulky enough to set up multiple DDs, but it's simply too niche and she just doesn't have the stats. EQ is looking more and more attractive in its place, but ultimately I think I need to place her in a different role or else she'll keep dragging the team down. I've made special note that in most of my victories she went un-used the entire battle.
Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 184 Def / 252 HP / 72 Spd
Impish Nature
- Taunt
- Toxic
- Earthquake
- Roost
Taunt anti-lead/physical wall. Somewhat standard set on him with EVs taken from one of the sets on his 6th gen thread, although I think more Gliscors run Protect and Stone Edge over EQ and Roost. He is the rock that gives this team hope. His job is to prevent Stealth Rocks from getting up as well as halting any Scolipedes that think they can set up for free, and then sticking around for a while to 1. spread Toxic, 2. Absorb status, 3. wall physical threats in general, and 4. switch in to Electric-type threats that would love to sweep this team so he can threaten back with STAB EQ. He hates Rotom-W though, and with all the 'mons that are immune to Ground he can only do so much with EQ. Still, he has been invaluable so far (and I like his design nearly as much as Altaria's oops) and has pulled his weight ten times over. He also has wonderful synergy with Mantine, who can eat the Surfs and Ice Beams always headed his way, as well as being Ice-type bait for Weakness Policy Togekiss. His problem is that he is the only thing standing between Altaria and the Heal Bell set which I think would work much better, but he's just too good to give up.
Hawlucha @ Focus Sash
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Hasty Nature
- Acrobatics
- High Jump Kick
- Swords Dance
- Baton Pass
IVs: 0/31/0/x/0/31
This little guy is surprisingly effective. Hasty Nature and minimum bulk IVs are to help ensure the sash procs for the Unburden and Acrobatics boosts, or else there's no point to this set. Turn 1: Swords Dance, let opponent proc Sash and get Unburden boost for basically 2 Dragon Dances in 1 turn. Turn 2: Outspeed and KO with 330 BP Acrobatics (factoring SD/STAB/Sash usage) or HJK (which covers most flying resists, including Rock-types that Gliscor or Mantine might not be able to take care of, namely TTar), while outspeeding just about everything with the Unburden boost. While he can potentially sweep very well by himself, priority is everywhere *cough*Talonflame*cough* so it's hard for him to get more than 1 KO. Sand, Hail, and hazards also ruin this strategy, but I have 2 methods to deal with Hazards and the rest of the team is bulky enough to stall out weather while hopefully taking out the opposing weather setter. I believe Hawlucha has more potential than this, but it tends to catch people off guard and has performed excellently so far. I usually send him out early-mid game, but I'm thinking about having him take Altaria's place in the late-game cleanup department so I could simply focus on taking out priority/hazard/weather threats instead of whatever can prevent Altaria's late-game setup sweep (which is pretty much anything it seems).
Togekiss @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 Spd
Modest Nature
- Air Slash
- Shadow Ball
- Wish
- Dazzling Gleam
Dragonite's Weakness Policy set has garnered popularity due to Multiscale + bulk. Togekiss has enough offensive presence and bulk that she could also potentially make use of Weakness Policy, but without Multiscale she is at a significant disadvantage in comparison. However, Wish allows her to bait a (preferably special) SE attack to KO or force a switch with a +2 coverage move and healing back the damage in the same turn, having become a sizable threat at +2 with great coverage in Fairy/Flying/Ghost. I could use Aura Sphere instead of Shadow Ball, but Aegislash is a pretty important threat that could sweep the rest of the team if Gliscor or Mandibuzz have been disabled. Shadow Ball also makes this set a nasty surprise for Gengar, who would try to 2HKO Toge with TB/Sludge Wave and then take a +2 Shadow Ball to the face. Her problems are similar to SashLucha in that she can usually only score one or two KOs before being properly revenge-killed or having to switch out and losing the boost I wasted an item slot for. After trading the nature and some EVs for more power to secure more OHKOs, she's been fairly reliable so far. But I think that's mostly because no one ever sees it coming since they expect something like FlinchRachi. I would be open to an alternative set if it would work better with the rest of the team.
Mantine @ Assault Vest
Ability: Water Veil
EVs: 252 SDef / 252 HP / 4 SAtk
Calm Nature
- Scald
- Air Slash
- Ice Beam
- Signal Beam
I originally had a SubSeed Jumpluff in this slot, and when that was about as useless as I expected it to be I turned to Infestation Vivillon, who had done well for me before yet just doesn't seem to do it for this team. After reflecting on the numerous times I got swept by Cloysters, I picked Mantine. Neutral damage from Ice-type moves is the best I can ask for on an all-flying team, and Electric weakness + Water resistance on top of huge special bulk further enhanced by Assault Vest makes it the perfect partner for Gliscor as a defensive core (is that the right word for this? I hope I haven't been spouting nonsense). I also needed a tad more special offense than Togekiss, and Scald + Ice/Signal Beam add to the team's coverage. It's sort of like Assault Vest Goodra, just... worse. There is certainly a reason it's an NU 'mon. But for this team, it works nicely to fill in its holes.
Mandibuzz @ Leftovers
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 4 Def / 252 HP / 252 SDef
Careful Nature
- Defog
- Knock Off
- Roost
- Toxic
When you hear the word mono-flying the first thing you think is Stealth Rock. If Gliscor fails to prevent it from being put up, I would need either Defog or Rapid Spin, and with the stark lack of Flying-type spinners, I went with Defog. This is the reason I don't have a hazard setter, although getting rid of dual screens is a nice compensation. Anyways, I had been seeing lately how Mandibuzz was picking up steam as a wall and seeing as she could run Defog well I decided to take her for a spin myself. I'm surprised at how little I've needed Defog, but with the Knock Off buff and Toxic plus Roost she's performed very well for me. Since before Mantine I didn't have much of a special wall to speak of, I decided to invest completely into Mandi's special defense, which is only 10 points lower than her physical defense (105, 95). It's caught more than one opponent off guard since they expect physically defensive Mandi and send out a special attacker to deal with her, only to do 20-30% as she spreads Toxic further and heals back up with Roost and Leftovers. Even after Mantine's addition I haven't felt the need to re-invest into her physical Defense, although I am thinking of replacing Knock Off with Foul Play since she has been used as set-up bait more than once. If I do that, I probably will have to go all-physical on her, but I wouldn't mind too much. What I don't want to do is replace Defog, but it hasn't been that useful and something like Whirlwind to phaze setup sweepers would be welcome.
So, thoughts? Changes? The team's been carried heavily by Gliscor and Mandibuzz so far, but it is absolutely WRECKED by Cloyster (and even Cinccino). Other things that make me cry: Rotom-W, priority, Rotom-W, baton pass set-ups Gliscor isn't fast enough to Taunt (most), and Rotom-W. On the plus side, it's done well against other monotype teams I've faced on the PS ladder, as well as other teams in the Monotype chatroom on Showdown. I am open to roster replacements (bar Altaria ofc) and set changes. Trying out Weakness Policy Togekiss and SwordsSash Hawlucha has been fun, but they're both pretty gimmicky to be totally honest and aren't as reliable as I'd like. With the goal of making Altaria work in OU though, I'd like to stay in the spirit of trying new/somewhat uncommon things (I realize Gliscor is fairly popular but still :P) so I'd prefer to shy away from things like paraflinch Togekiss or the conventional Talonflame build.
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