Metagame SS Monotype Metagame Discussion [Isle of Armor]

[MegaBanette69]

I've been trying to make a good Poison team and I know I need a good Poison/Dark member. The two best seem to be Drapion and Skuntank. Which one is better? The rest of my team is Salazzle, Toxapex, Toxicroak, Galarian Slowbro, and Scolipede if that helps . If you could include sets too that would be nice.

 

[roxie]

I've been trying to make a good Poison team and I know I need a good Poison/Dark member. The two best seem to be Drapion and Skuntank. Which one is better? The rest of my team is Salazzle, Toxapex, Toxicroak, Galarian Slowbro, and Scolipede if that helps . If you could include sets too that would be nice.

I would suggest doing something like: Toxapex(Staple), Amoonguss, Salazzle/Galarian Slowbro, Galarian Weezing, Scolipede/Toxtricity/Gengar, Drapion/Skuntank
I tested out Toxicroak and its hard to fit, however for obvious reasons it has merit against Dark and Normal which can be somewhat troublesome for Poison. But for starters, here are 2 samples by Maroon & Decem:

Poison Sample V1: Scolipede

Amoonguss @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Giga Drain
- Spore
- Synthesis
- Foul Play

Scolipede @ Life Orb
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Megahorn
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Protect

Weezing-Galar @ Black Sludge
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Strange Steam
- Will-O-Wisp
- Toxic Spikes
- Pain Split

Toxapex @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 120 Def / 136 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Toxic
- Haze
- Recover

Salazzle (F) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Corrosion
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Protect
- Encore
- Toxic

Skuntank @ Black Sludge
Ability: Aftermath
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Poison Jab
- Sucker Punch
- Defog
- Protect

Poison Sample V2: Gengar

Weezing-Galar @ Black Sludge
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 244 Def / 12 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Strange Steam
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split
- Fire Blast

Toxapex @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Toxic
- Haze
- Recover

Skuntank @ Black Sludge
Ability: Aftermath
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Foul Play
- Defog
- Taunt

Gengar @ Choice Specs
Ability: Cursed Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Wave
- Focus Blast
- Thunderbolt

Amoonguss @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spore
- Giga Drain
- Foul Play
- Synthesis

Salazzle (F) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Corrosion
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Sludge Wave
- Encore
- Toxic

Drapion and Skuntank perform 2 different roles: Skuntank being able to run Defog and allow Galarian Weezing to run a move (not-name Defog) of course like Corrosive Gas, Toxic Spikes, or Flamethrower along with having Sucker Punch which is nice for 'choiced' Dragapults and Alolan Raichu and so on. Drapion however requires you to run removal on Weezing-G, but it has utility Knock Off and Toxic Spikes which is nice for a lot of things.

Sample Sets

Drapion @ Black Sludge
Ability: Battle Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Careful Nature
- Toxic Spikes
- Knock Off
- Poison Jab
- Protect

Skuntank @ Black Sludge
Ability: Aftermath
EVs: 252 HP / 224 SpD / 32 Spe
Careful Nature
- Poison Jab
- Sucker Punch
- Defog
- Protect

 

[Hyperspace12]

I've been trying to make a good Poison team and I know I need a good Poison/Dark member. The two best seem to be Drapion and Skuntank. Which one is better? The rest of my team is Salazzle, Toxapex, Toxicroak, Galarian Slowbro, and Scolipede if that helps . If you could include sets too that would be nice.

Typically, as the dark type of the team, Drapion and Skuntank will run sets specifically to beat special attackers that like to spam psychic moves, such as Raichu-A and hatterene.

Drapion overall does better in the Psychic and Ghost matchups, as it has access to both Tspikes and Knock off, two really powerful moves in that mu. It's also a bit faster then Skuntank, which allows it to utilize taunt better. Finally, it also has a higher Physical Defense so it can tank those a bit better.

Skuntank, on the other hand gets Sucker Punch to outspeed stuff like Raichu-A and threatening Ghost types, but lacks Tspikes and Knock off(these can be provided by other Pokemon like Toxapex). The main thing is that Skuntank also has a higher HP stat, which allows Skuntank to take moves like Hatterene's Draining Kiss much better. It also gets access to Defog, which frees up a moveslot on Weezing if you want to use it. Finally, It eases up Fairy a bit more thanks to the aforementioned Higher HP to take on togekiss, and the Ability Aftermath to help chip Azumarill.

Overall, I think it depends on what your team struggles against more, but seeing that your team is on the offensive end of Poison, I feel Drapion will fit better on your team, but feel free to try both out!

Drapion

Drapion @ Black Sludge
Ability: Battle Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Toxic Spikes
- Taunt / Protect
- Knock Off
- Poison Jab

Skuntank

Skuntank @ Black Sludge
Ability: Aftermath
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Poison Jab
- Sucker Punch
- Protect
- Defog

Skuntank @ Black Sludge
Ability: Aftermath
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Substitute
- Crunch
- Protect
- Poison Jab

Also roxiee already beat me to it ;w;
but a team composition of Pex/amoonguss/Weezing/Dark type/salazzle/Filler will probably work better then what you have rn, as you are extremely prone to stuff like Excadrill and other fast ground types.

 

[MegaBanette69]

Is it worth running Baneful Bunker on pex? Or is Toxic better?

Also deciding who to be my Tspikes user. I'm either gonna go Pex with Tspikes, giving Drapion an extra slot to mess with. Or go Drapion with Tspikes, and give Pex Haze instead. Whats better?

Pex sets

Toxapex @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP/ 252 SpD/ 4 Def
Calm Nature
-Baneful Bunker/Toxic
-Scald
-Recover
-Haze

Or

Toxapex @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP/ 252 SpD/ 4 Def
Calm Nature
-Baneful Bunker/Toxic
-Scald
-Recover
-Toxic Spikes

Drapion sets

Drapion @ Black Sludge
Ability: Battle Armor
EVs: 252 Atk/ 252 SpD/ 4 Spe
Jolly Nature
-Taunt
-Poison Jab
-Knock Off
-Toxic Spikes

Or

Drapion @ Black Sludge
Ability: Battle Armor
EVs: 252 Atk/ 4 SpD/ 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
-Taunt
-Poison Jab
-Knock Off
-Aqua Tail

Aqua Tail is for Ground

 

[roxie]

Is it worth running Baneful Bunker on pex? Or is Toxic better?

Also deciding who to be my Tspikes user. I'm either gonna go Pex with Tspikes, giving Drapion an extra slot to mess with. Or go Drapion with Tspikes, and give Pex Haze instead. Whats better?

Pex sets

Toxapex @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP/ 252 SpD/ 4 Def
Calm Nature
-Baneful Bunker/Toxic
-Scald
-Recover
-Haze

Or

Toxapex @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP/ 252 SpD/ 4 Def
Calm Nature
-Baneful Bunker/Toxic
-Scald
-Recover
-Toxic Spikes

Drapion sets

Drapion @ Black Sludge
Ability: Battle Armor
EVs: 252 Atk/ 252 SpD/ 4 Spe
Jolly Nature
-Taunt
-Poison Jab
-Knock Off
-Toxic Spikes

Or

Drapion @ Black Sludge
Ability: Battle Armor
EVs: 252 Atk/ 4 SpD/ 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
-Taunt
-Poison Jab
-Knock Off
-Aqua Tail

Aqua Tail is for Ground

amoonguss is for ground, just run spikes on drapion, never drop haze , bane/toxic scald recover haze

 

[MegaBanette69]

Just fought a Psychic team with Contrary superpower Malamar and it almost beat me. Is that thing available for dark? Seems like a amazing mon for dark

 

[Hyperspace12]

Just fought a Psychic team with Contrary superpower Malamar and it almost beat me. Is that thing available for dark? Seems like a amazing mon for dark

On Psychic it really isnt that good, as its pretty hard to fit.
On dark, however, it is almost entirely outclassed by Bulk Up Urshifu, who carries similar moves and also is able to increase its attack and defense with Bulk Up. With Sucker Punch, higher speed and attack, wicked blow, and Unseen Fist, Urshifu pretty much does the job better in every way compared to Malamar.

 

[MegaBanette69]

lol I tried using both and it worked pretty well. An Obstagoon tried Obstructing my Superpower and it boosted my defense

 

[roxie]

lol I tried using both and it worked pretty well. An Obstagoon tried Obstructing my Superpower and it boosted my defense

Yeah that’s what the ability does, I’m not sure how high are you ranked in ladder but you won’t see more standard/somewhat quality teams until you hit the 1600s; it’s a lot of gimmicky/niche sets on ladder

 

[MegaBanette69]

Contrary seems like a pretty decent ability. It counteracts Intimidate and moves like Obstruct, Parting Shot and Kings Shield. His only weakness are bug and fairy. Seems like a decent Mon. I'm about 1200 on ladder right now btw

 

[AA]

Hey so I have seen a lot of bulk up ursfuiu recently as it's the generally the preferred set right now but I believe that it's lacking recovery so I believe drain punch may be a better move this also makes it not lose the def drop from cc and drain punch leftovers can make it last a lot longer than normal life or life orb sets.

my set

Urshifu @ Black Glasses / Life Orb/ Leftovers
Ability: Unseen Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Wicked Blow
- Drain Punch
- Bulk Up
- Sucker Punch

normal

Urshifu @ Black Glasses / life orb
Ability: Unseen Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Wicked Blow
- Close Combat
- Sucker Punch
- Bulk Up

Edit: on my phone and way to lazy to check and see if it was already suggested.

 

[roxie]

Hey so I have seen a lot of bulk up ursfuiu recently as it's the generally the preferred set right now but I believe that it's lacking recovery so I believe drain punch may be a better move this also makes it not lose the def drop from cc and drain punch leftovers can make it last a lot longer than normal life or life orb sets.

my set

Urshifu @ Black Glasses / Life Orb/ Leftovers
Ability: Unseen Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Wicked Blow
- Drain Punch
- Bulk Up
- Sucker Punch

normal

Urshifu @ Black Glasses / life orb
Ability: Unseen Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Wicked Blow
- Close Combat
- Sucker Punch
- Bulk Up

Edit: on my phone and way to lazy to check and see if it was already suggested.

that set is fine yeah, Drain Punch is better for longevity while cc might be better if you're looking for more damage

 

[MegaBanette69]

Hey so I have seen a lot of bulk up ursfuiu recently as it's the generally the preferred set right now but I believe that it's lacking recovery so I believe drain punch may be a better move this also makes it not lose the def drop from cc and drain punch leftovers can make it last a lot longer than normal life or life orb sets.

my set

Urshifu @ Black Glasses / Life Orb/ Leftovers
Ability: Unseen Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Wicked Blow
- Drain Punch
- Bulk Up
- Sucker Punch

normal

Urshifu @ Black Glasses / life orb
Ability: Unseen Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Wicked Blow
- Close Combat
- Sucker Punch
- Bulk Up

Edit: on my phone and way to lazy to check and see if it was already suggested.

I usually run Poison Jab or Iron Head over Sucker Punch cause he's already hella fast



EDIT
Also completely random but I thought it was hilarious, I was fighting a mono-fairy team with an Azumarill that had just Belly Drummed. i had Runerigus out and had just trick roomed. Azumarill attacked me and killed, but it lost Huge Power and got Wandering spirit instead. I cut its Atk in half without burning lol.

 

[mushamu]

Hello, new here, hope I can share some points. I climbed to the 1400s purely with Water and I'm currently climbing in another account with Dark (1200s right now, I have some IRL stuff that makes me climb pretty slowly, but I'll get there), so I do have a bit to say about both Urshifru forms, hahah.

I think one thing that really should be looked at when analysing both is what impact they have in their respective types and how much their absence would impact said types. Water was amazing with Urshifru-R: always one hit KOing Ferrothorn with Close Combat and having over 80% chance of two hit KOing Toxapex, two of the biggest Water road blockers, was huge and I think it really pushed Water, specially rain (for that sweet boost to Surging Strikes), over the edge. After the ban, Water is still easily top 3 in the current metagame, but the things that are supposed to somewhat check it, like the two aforementioned pokemon, can both do their job and be beaten by smart play. I don't see a reason for Fighting to ever run Urshifru-R instead of the Psychic immune one, so I guess I can skip that.

Speaking of Urshifru-R, I don't have much experience with Fighting, so I rather not talk about it. On Dark though, there's obvious great team support with Tyranitar and Grimmsnarl (dual screens + Taunt variant) offering plenty of ways to deal with Fairies, and Mandibuzz (which, assumingly, I haven't used much yet) offering Defog and a defensive pivot, though I don't feel Urshifru-R breaks any of the "bad" matchups for Dark: between Bisharp, Tyranitar, Hydreigon and screens from Grimmsnarl, Fairy is decently doable in my opinion; Bug is definitely harder, but I built my Tyranitar to specifically counter Volcarona (helps against some other stuff too which is great), so the rest of the matchup becomes pretty doable too (Hydreigon is also a lovely fellow with Flamethrower); Fighting, finally, is.... An autoloss, lol, at least in my experience. Urshifru-R is definitely great in all of those matchups, but, as I descibred, doesn't particularly break any of them (in favour of Dark). Its absence would definitely be felt in a lot of neutral matchups.

Hope I managed to make a point and didn't just chatter for 3 paragraphs :x. Cheers!

Hello, welcome to Monotype! It’s nice that you decided to share your thoughts regarding Urshifu-S in SS Monotype, but one thing I would like to note that the point of tiering is to create a balanced metagame where no type is too powerful, as defined in the Monotype tiering philosophy. In the same vein, this means that a type becoming less viable after an important aspect is removed shouldn't be a concern as it goes against the fundamentals of tiering. When you keep an unhealthy aspect in the metagame for the sake of maintaining a type's viability, the rest of the metagame suffers as a result. Ghost and Fighting shot up from being incredibly inconsistent and awful to the two best types in the metagame when Marshadow was allowed in SM Monotype due to its unmatched power. However, making Ghost and Fighting viable was of course an awful reason to keep an incredibly unhealthy Pokemon in the metagame, and thus Marshadow was quickbanned. Ghost and Fighting both returned to being low tier types, but SM Monotype wouldn't be regarded as a healthy and enjoyable metagame today if Marshadow were to stay. The same logic can be applied when thinking about Urshifu-S to a lesser degree, and many other Pokemon. Of course, Dark would hypothetically get worse if Urshifu-S got banned, but the only thing you should be focusing on is whether or not it is more healthy for the general metagame with Dark (and Fighting) set aside. I personally think the metagame has developed around Urshifu-S quite nicely as pretty much every type has a good way to deal with it without running anything too crazy, not to mention Choice Scarf Cobalion becoming more popular on Steel which deals with Urshifu-S along with the entirety of Dark teams consistently. The discussion around Urshifu-S has diminished a bit but I wanted to point out how considering a type's viability after something potentially gets banned isn't the right mindset you should be using as it goes against the main reason why tiering exists to begin with: to balance out the metagame without favoring a specific type.

For Zarude, I think the main thing I like about it is on Dark, where it's basically your best shot at beating Water teams. Bulk Up + Taunt + Jungle Healing is extremely efficient at muscling through the defensive core and you can invalidate Keldeo with Chople Berry if Zarude happens to get chipped. It typically puts in a lot of work and sweeps entirely or does enough damage for the rest of the Dark team to clean. The main thing that it loses to is fat Water teams with Sap Sipper Azumarill, but Azumarill is rather uncommon. Dark teams have usually been traditionally Water weak due to the lack of good Water resists, and have ran Pokemon like Cacturne in ORAS and Grass Knot Greninja in SM to cteam the type. SS Dark hasn't had a good Water cteam up until now, which is important due to Water's dominance in the current metagame. On Grass, Choice Scarf Zarude is decent but faces competition with Virizion, which has more flexibility to beat Normal and Dark teams with STAB Close Combat and is overall more powerful with access to Toxic to invalidate Mandibuzz and Braviary in those matchups. The main thing Choice Scarf Zarude has over Virizion is U-turn, which is notable because they're both walled by a lot of common things. I've tried Bulk Up Zarude on Grass but generally it feels like it falls short compared to Swords Dance Rillaboom despite being slightly better against Steel. It's definitely a cool tool on both types.

 

[Basically Hastur]

Hello, welcome to Monotype! It’s nice that you decided to share your thoughts regarding Urshifu-S in SS Monotype, but one thing I would like to note that the point of tiering is to create a balanced metagame where no type is too powerful, as defined in the Monotype tiering philosophy. In the same vein, this means that a type becoming less viable after an important aspect is removed shouldn't be a concern as it goes against the fundamentals of tiering. When you keep an unhealthy aspect in the metagame for the sake of maintaining a type's viability, the rest of the metagame suffers as a result. Ghost and Fighting shot up from being incredibly inconsistent and awful to the two best types in the metagame when Marshadow was allowed in SM Monotype due to its unmatched power. However, making Ghost and Fighting viable was of course an awful reason to keep an incredibly unhealthy Pokemon in the metagame, and thus Marshadow was quickbanned. Ghost and Fighting both returned to being low tier types, but SM Monotype wouldn't be regarded as a healthy and enjoyable metagame today if Marshadow were to stay. The same logic can be applied when thinking about Urshifu-S to a lesser degree, and many other Pokemon. Of course, Dark would hypothetically get worse if Urshifu-S got banned, but the only thing you should be focusing on is whether or not it is more healthy for the general metagame with Dark (and Fighting) set aside. I personally think the metagame has developed around Urshifu-S quite nicely as pretty much every type has a good way to deal with it without running anything too crazy, not to mention Choice Scarf Cobalion becoming more popular on Steel which deals with Urshifu-S along with the entirety of Dark teams consistently. The discussion around Urshifu-S has diminished a bit but I wanted to point out how considering a type's viability after something potentially gets banned isn't the right mindset you should be using as it goes against the main reason why tiering exists to begin with: to balance out the metagame without favoring a specific type.

For Zarude, I think the main thing I like about it is on Dark, where it's basically your best shot at beating Water teams. Bulk Up + Taunt + Jungle Healing is extremely efficient at muscling through the defensive core and you can invalidate Keldeo with Chople Berry if Zarude happens to get chipped. It typically puts in a lot of work and sweeps entirely or does enough damage for the rest of the Dark team to clean. The main thing that it loses to is fat Water teams with Sap Sipper Azumarill, but Azumarill is rather uncommon. Dark teams have usually been traditionally Water weak due to the lack of good Water resists, and have ran Pokemon like Cacturne in ORAS and Grass Knot Greninja in SM to cteam the type. SS Dark hasn't had a good Water cteam up until now, which is important due to Water's dominance in the current metagame. On Grass, Choice Scarf Zarude is decent but faces competition with Virizion, which has more flexibility to beat Normal and Dark teams with STAB Close Combat and is overall more powerful with access to Toxic to invalidate Mandibuzz and Braviary in those matchups. The main thing Choice Scarf Zarude has over Virizion is U-turn, which is notable because they're both walled by a lot of common things. I've tried Bulk Up Zarude on Grass but generally it feels like it falls short compared to Swords Dance Rillaboom despite being slightly better against Steel. It's definitely a cool tool on both types.

Thank you for the write up and explanation. Sorry for the confusion, but I did definitely learn from it. I can agree with you in what concerns Urshifu: though after writing that initial comment and playing other types Urshifu felt overwhelming to deal with sometimes, I think the best would be to wait for the DLC now.

 

[g0ldenboy27]

How can i improve my water team?

Im using Araquinid, Gastrodon, Primarina, Cloyster, Keldeo and Toxapex.

So far its going good, but i cant win against ground types lol like, every pokemon with earthquake just destroy my team - and stealth rock just counter me so bad

Before i was using Pelipper + Seismitoad and Barraskewda team, but it was even more incosistent

Araquanid @ Focus Sash
Ability: Water Bubble
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Sticky Web
- Liquidation
- Leech Life
- Mirror Coat

Gastrodon-East @ Leftovers
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Earth Power
- Recover
- Toxic

Primarina @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Moonblast
- Psychic
- Substitute

Cloyster @ Focus Sash
Ability: Skill Link
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Shell Smash
- Icicle Spear
- Rock Blast
- Liquidation

Keldeo @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Icy Wind
- Surf
- Secret Sword
- Air Slash

Toxapex @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Light Screen
- Toxic
- Recover
- Haze

 

[MegaBanette69]

How can i improve my water team?

Im using Araquinid, Gastrodon, Primarina, Cloyster, Keldeo and Toxapex.

So far its going good, but i cant win against ground types lol like, every pokemon with earthquake just destroy my team - and stealth rock just counter me so bad

Before i was using Pelipper + Seismitoad and Barraskewda team, but it was even more incosistent

If you want high quality rating, try putting this in RMT, heres the posting rules. Checking the Smogon Dex for sets is smart too. But as for right now, heres some quick tips:
Try Defog Pellipper again helps get rid of Stealth Rock, Rain also helps a lot on water teams. Also Dracovish kills every ground type thats name ins't Water Absorb Seis or Storm Drain Gastrodon. Try Hyper Voice+Liquid Voice on Prim over Psychic. On Keldeo try switching Sacred Sword to Focus Blast, Keld doesn't have great Physical Atk EDIT Oh wait I'm dum I read Secret Sword and Thought Sacred Sword, Secret Swords fine ignore that bit, replacing Icy Wind with Calm Mind would be good too. Definetely get rid of Light Screen on Pex and give it Scald, helps with random burns and right now its Taunt bait.

Hope this helps!

 

[roxie]

How can i improve my water team?

Im using Araquinid, Gastrodon, Primarina, Cloyster, Keldeo and Toxapex.

So far its going good, but i cant win against ground types lol like, every pokemon with earthquake just destroy my team - and stealth rock just counter me so bad

Before i was using Pelipper + Seismitoad and Barraskewda team, but it was even more incosistent

Heya! SS Monotype is taking a tremendous shift and I will just ahead and rate here, no need to write it up rn

Major Changes
Liquidation -> Ice Shard
Priority Ice Shard is too good to miss out on, especially for Water as it helps with fast Pokemon like Noivern or Dragapult or opposing Pokemon that tend to use priority like Whimsicott or Dragapult (again).

->
Sharpedo is really nice on web-based Water-teams and with Toxapex/Tentacruel + Keldeo, you are weak to Psychic-type attacks. The team is pretty Expanding Force spammable and Sharpedo helps patches up those issues. Additionally, Sharpedo has access to Earthquake, which can do a lot of progress in the Electric matchup and keeps the momentum for 100 for the team overall.

Minor Changes
->
The team overall looks like it should be more offensively orientated with Sticky Web and Tentacruel does amazing on webs. it outspeeds Togekiss and acts as a hazard remover with Rapid Spin. It also has nice utility options like Knock Off and Toxic Spikes so I suggest really trying this out to keep the momentum going for your team!

Choice Specs -> Calm Mind Keldeo
I always prefer Calm Mind Keldeo due to Specs being very scoutable by both Protect Aegislash and Ferrothorn. Specs was moreso a Fighting- and Gen6 thing so I suggest using CM for rn.

Primarina
I suggest altering these EV spreads on Primarina because we need something more approachable for Poison. Calm and SpD investment on Primarina helps a lot and notably Amoonguss and Kyurem with this spread in particular as you are able to setup subs at +1 from Amoongus along with just being able to eat Freeze Drys better.

0 SpA Amoonguss Giga Drain vs. +1 252 HP / 108+ SpD Primarina: 68-84 (18.6 - 23%) -- possible 6HKO after Leftovers recovery
200 SpA Kyurem Freeze-Dry vs. +1 252 HP / 108+ SpD Primarina: 108-128 (29.6 - 35.1%) -- not a KO

(Updated team)
Please use the RMT section for DLC 2 or contact me on discord at Roxiee#7869 for any further questions!

 

[g0ldenboy27]

If you want high quality rating, try putting this in RMT, heres the posting rules. Checking the Smogon Dex for sets is smart too. But as for right now, heres some quick tips:
Try Defog Pellipper again helps get rid of Stealth Rock, Rain also helps a lot on water teams. Also Dracovish kills every ground type thats name ins't Water Absorb Seis or Storm Drain Gastrodon. Try Hyper Voice+Liquid Voice on Prim over Psychic. On Keldeo try switching Sacred Sword to Focus Blast, Keld doesn't have great Physical Atk EDIT Oh wait I'm dum I read Secret Sword and Thought Sacred Sword, Secret Swords fine ignore that bit, replacing Icy Wind with Calm Mind would be good too. Definetely get rid of Light Screen on Pex and give it Scald, helps with random burns and right now its Taunt bait.

Hope this helps!

thx for the answer man! im trying to replace Closyer for Crawdaunt, for now its doing very good. What is "Liquid Voice" for Primarina? Im using Knock Off now for Toxa instead Light Screen, you think scald is better? And yes, i changed Icy Wind for Calm Mind on Keldeo, but i miss some Ice moves i think, but i will try haha thx

 

[AA]

How can i improve my water team?

Im using Araquinid, Gastrodon, Primarina, Cloyster, Keldeo and Toxapex.

So far its going good, but i cant win against ground types lol like, every pokemon with earthquake just destroy my team - and stealth rock just counter me so bad

Before I was using Pelipper + Seismitoad and Barraskewda team, but it was even more inconsistent

Another set for Primarina could be a draining kiss set

Primarina @ Leftovers
Calm Nature
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 148 SpA / 108 SpD
- Calm Mind
- Draining Kiss
- Psychic
- Substitute

And like Roixee said Sharpedo would fit this team nicely, really helping with the Electric mu and allow you not to get Expanding Force spammed theirs a few sets I have seen. While Band Crawdaunt is also a decent option. On Sharpedo I personally think sub is better but it's up to you if u like a guaranteed speed boost.

Sharpedo @ Life Orb
Adamant Nature
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
- Crunch
- Ice Fang
- Earthquake
- Protect/Substitute

thx for the answer man! im trying to replace Closyer for Crawdaunt, for now its doing very good. What is "Liquid Voice" for Primarina? Im using Knock Off now for Toxa instead Light Screen, you think scald is better? And yes, i changed Icy Wind for Calm Mind on Keldeo, but i miss some Ice moves i think, but i will try haha thx

Liquid voice is Primarina hidden ability "Liquid Voice causes all sound-based moves used by the Pokémon to become Water type. Water type Pokémon also gain STAB from those moves." This also hits throw Substitute and when you use the move Hyper Voice it becomes a stab water move. For pex scald is normally better than knock off as u are able to get burns. And you won't need knock off on pex if you are running Crawdaunt as most sets will use it. If you are saying you miss ice moves I would suggest you keep Cloyster make sure its Adamant ice shard.


Cloyster @ Focus Sash
Adamant Nature
Ability: Skill Link
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
- Shell Smash
- Icicle Spear
- Rock Blast
- Ice Shard

 

[MegaBanette69]

thx for the answer man! im trying to replace Closyer for Crawdaunt, for now its doing very good. What is "Liquid Voice" for Primarina? Im using Knock Off now for Toxa instead Light Screen, you think scald is better? And yes, i changed Icy Wind for Calm Mind on Keldeo, but i miss some Ice moves i think, but i will try haha thx

Liquid Voice is Primarina's Hidden ability that turns all Sound moves into Water type.

 

[g0ldenboy27]

Another set for Primarina could be a draining kiss set

Primarina @ Leftovers
Calm Nature
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 148 SpA / 108 SpD
- Calm Mind
- Draining Kiss
- Psychic
- Substitute

And like Roixee said Sharpedo would fit this team nicely, really helping with the Electric mu and allow you not to get Expanding Force spammed theirs a few sets I have seen. While Band Crawdaunt is also a decent option. On Sharpedo I personally think sub is better but it's up to you if u like a guaranteed speed boost.

Sharpedo @ Life Orb
Adamant Nature
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
- Crunch
- Ice Fang
- Earthquake
- Protect/Substitute




Liquid voice is Primarina hidden ability "Liquid Voice causes all sound-based moves used by the Pokémon to become Water type. Water type Pokémon also gain STAB from those moves." This also hits throw Substitute and when you use the move Hyper Voice it becomes a stab water move. For pex scald is normally better than knock off as u are able to get burns. And you won't need knock off on pex if you are running Crawdaunt as most sets will use it. If you are saying you miss ice moves I would suggest you keep Cloyster make sure its Adamant ice shard.


Cloyster @ Focus Sash
Adamant Nature
Ability: Skill Link
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
- Shell Smash
- Icicle Spear
- Rock Blast
- Ice Shard

Its impossible to win against Indeendee? Like, even with Sharpedo i got one hit by Energy Ball XD

 

[MegaBanette69]

Its impossible to win against Indeendee? Like, even with Sharpedo i got one hit by Energy Ball XD

With Sharpedo try coming in on a predicted Expanding Force, Get the Speed Boost and threaten him with Crunch.

 

[mushamu]

I made a new metagame discussion thread to have a fresh beginning in an entirely new metagame, which can be found here, and I will be locking this thread.