Introduction
Hey Smogon. I've been inactive here for well over 6 months, but a new team idea came to mind when I was playing through my bug monotype in Leaf Green. I wanted to make a competitive team using mainly bug types, one of the most underrated types in Pokémon history.
At A Glance
Team Building
I knew I wanted a fast lead that could severely damage other leads as well as cripple them if need be. Yanmega instantly came to mind with it's extremely powerful Air Slash and ability to use Hypnosis.
Next, I wanted a good Spinner to keep Stealth Rock off the field, as I knew it would be one of my teams greatest weaknesses. Forretress is the only OU Bug that can learn Rapid Spin, and is probably the best Bug-Type user of it anyway.
I knew that if this team was going to get anywhere, it needed a strong offensive core. With all the physical Bug types out there, I decided to worry about the special part later. Scizor is clearly the best physical Bug type, with access to a strong priority move.
At this point, my selection of half-decent Bug types was getting very scarce. I eventually decided to use something a bit gimmicky, something nobody would suspect. Trick Band Shedinja seemed like a good choice.
This is when I decided to think about the special attacker of my team. I had a look at Smogon's list of Bug Types, and my special attacking options fell to just 3 half decent ones: Mothim, Venomoth, and Yanmega. Yanmega was clearly the best choice, boasting superior speed over Mothim, and better coverage than Venomoth. This prompted me to change my lead to Ninjask, using the pure speed passing set.
As most of you know, Monotype teams always have a trump card. After looking over my team, I saw that Rock and Fire types were going to do the most damage to my team of Bugs. Heatran instantly came to mind, sporting an immunity to Fire thanks to his ability, and a resistance to Rock thanks to his Steel typing.
Closer Look
The Lead: Ninjask
Adamant Nature
252 Atk, 252 Spe, 6 Hp
Speed Boost
X-Scissor
Agility
Baton Pass
Protect
Description: After initially having Yanmega as a lead, I decided to switch to Ninjask as I needed Yanmega as a Special Attacker. So far, Ninjask has been a very useful member of my team, often coming back in after the initial Baton Pass to do some damage with X-Scissor. Just the basic Speed Pass set is being utilised, as attack power in my team isn't exactly scarce, as my two Physical Attackers both have a Choice Band.
Moves: Agility and Baton Pass make up the core of the set. X-Scissor is the best Bug Type STAB Ninjask can use. Protect is useful for stopping Taunt, and getting a free Speed Boost, allowing me to pass atleast one Speed Boost to Shedinja or Scizor.
EVs:Max Speed and Atk to ensure i'm outspeeding almost everything, and hitting as hard as possible with X-Scissor. The rest put into Hp as filler.
Synergy: Fire: Heatran
Rock: Heatran
Flying: Heatran
Ice: Heatran, Shedinja, Forretress, Scizor
Electric: Shedinja
The Spinner: Forretress
Relaxed Nature
252 Hp, 112 Atk, 144 Def, 0 Speed IV
Sturdy
Gyro Ball
Stealth Rock
Pain Split
Rapid Spin
Description: As I said in the Team Building section, Forretress is the only Bug Type in OU that can use Rapid Spin, and is probably the best Bug Type user of it anyway. However, If my trump card slot wasn't being used by Heatran, I would most likely use a different Spinner, as there are many better choices than Forretress (e.g Starmie).
Moves: Every team likes an entry hazard, and I decided to use Stealth Rock for the simple reason that it hurts Fire types that love to murder this team. Rapid Spin rids my own field of the Rocks. Gyro Ball gets STAB and is Forretress' best bet of doing some damage. Pain Split is more reliable for recovery than Rest, because I dont have to sleep for two turns after I use it.
EVs: Forretress needs max Speed to buff up it's sub-par 75 base Hp. Max Def isn't needed, as with 144 Evs and a Relaxed nature, Forretress hits 387 Defense. The rest is put into Atk to power up Gyro Ball further.
Synergy: Fire: Heatran
Physical Attacker #1: Scizor
Adamant
252 Hp, 252 Atk, 6 Def
Technician
U-Turn
Bullet Punch
Pursuit
Superpower
Description: When I think of physical attackers, 3 main ones come to mind: Salamence, Gyarados and Scizor. Obviously, Scizor is the only Bug type out of those 3, but is IMO the best, as it has less weaknesses (I know Gyara only has one weakness, but it can be easily countered by things like Celebi). Scizor serves as my check to Latias (or atleast the ones that dont have HP Fire), but I still have to play strategically to get past it.
Moves: As with most Scizor, all of my moves benefit from Technician. Bullet Punch gets STAB and is one of the best priority moves in the game. Pursuit helps to counter Latias 9as mentioned earlier). U-Turn is for scouting, and with Choice Sets the switch is always helpful. Superpower is more useful than Brick Break on this set as I switch alot.
EVs: This spread is almost identical to the standard CB Scizor, but I dont run any Speed EVs because I usually get atleast one Speed Boost passed to Scizor from Ninjask. The EVs that would usually be in Speed are now used to Max Hp and the rest are put into Defence.
Synergy: Fire: Heatran
Physical Attacker #2: Shedinja (The Ninja of Gimmicks)
Jolly
252Atk, 252 Spe, 6 Def
Wonder Guard
X-Scissor
Shadow Sneak
Trick
Will-o-Wisp
Description: Before making this team, I had never used a Shedinja. I had always thought that there was a better pokemon for the job. That's when I found this set. Obviously, the point is to atleast try to hurt something with my STAB moves, or to cripple pokemon that try to wall my main sweeper, Yanmega (I'm looking at you Blissey). Tricking a Choice Band also helps my Heatran out alot, as you will see later.
Moves: Shadow Sneak and X-Scissor are my STABs. Trick is the base of this set, along with the Choice Band. Will-o-Wisp helps to wear down Bulky Water types that can give this team alot of trouble.
EVs: Max Atk to make my STAB attacks more powerful. Max Speed to ensure I get the Trick off on the slower, bigger Walls. The Jolly nature also helps with this.
Synergy: Fire: Heatran
Rock: Heatran
Flying: Heatran
Ghost: Scizor, Forretress, Heatran
Dark: Scizor, Forretress, Heatran
The Special Attacker: Yanmega
Modest
252 Sp.Atk, 252 Spe, 6 Hp
Speed Boost
Air Slash
Bug Buzz
Hidden Power [Ground]
Protect
Description: The choice of Special-Orientated Bug types is very scarce. Yanmega is the best one I could find. Originally, Yanmega was my lead, but I knew there were other good Bug type leads, but there was only one good Special Bug Type. Yanmega helps to cover a variety of weaknesses, the main one being Heatran. Yanmega outspeeds and OHKO's most Heatran with Hidden Power [Ground].
Moves: Air Slash and Bug Buzz are my STAB moves,Air Slash also manages a 2HKO on most Gyarados. Hidden Power [Ground] hits the Steels that would otherwise wall Yanmega completely, and helps against the Fre types with Flash Fire (AKA the ones Heatran can't touch). Protect lets me scout my opponents moves and scores me a free Speed Boost.
EVs: Max Speed and Special Attack to outspeed and KO whatever I need to. The rest put into Hp as filler.
Synergy: Fire: Heatran
Rock: Heatran
Flying: Heatran
Ice: Heatran, Shedinja, Forretress, Scizor
Electric: Shedinja
The Trump Card: Heatran
Calm
244 Hp, 222 Spe, 44 Sp.Atk
Flash Fire
Lava Plume
Torment
Protect
Substitute
Description: This is it. My favourite member of the team and my trump card. TormentTran. It has won me almost every match I've played with this team, the only time I lost was when this guy went down to a Gyarados and my last guy was Shedinja. If, like I was before playing this guy myself, your not familiar with how TormentTran works, heres and example of how I play him:
Protect as they try to KO you with there Heatran counter OR Sub if you predict a switch.
If your behind a Sub, Protect as they try to break your Sub. If not, Torment, stopping the use of their KO move, as most Pokemon dont carry more than one move strong enough to break the Sub you will eventually get up.
Once your safe behind a Sub, Lava Plume them until they get burned, and slowly wear them down.
Moves: Torment, Sub and Protect are the base for this set. Lava Plume is used over Flamethrower or Fire Blast because of the PP and higher chance to burn the foe.
EVs: This is the first time I've used TormentTran, so I took the EVs from Smogon, with a minor adjustment to add a bit more power to Lava Plume (-12 Sp.Def EVs, +12 Sp.Atk).
Synergy: Water: Shedinja, but other than that, nothing.
Ground: Yanmega, Shedinja, Ninjask
Fighting:Yanmega, Shedinja, Ninjask
SERIOUSLY CONSIDERING REPLACING HEATRAN WITH A CROCUNE, NEED OPINIONS
Last Look
