Monotype Suspect Coverage

Introduction

After multiple rounds of discussion in the ORAS Monotype discussion thread, the Monotype council chose to suspect Hoopa-U. For those of you unfamiliar with Monotype, it is an Other Metagame where everyone is required to use a team of Pokémon that share a type (i.e., teambuilds similar to those of Gym Leaders and Elite Four members from the cartridge games).

The Monotype metagame is dominated by balanced teambuilds. Thus, it is no surprise Hoopa-U is a major threat given its status as one of the premier balance breakers. This article briefly overviews how Hoopa-U is used in the Monotype meta and reports the suspect results. Also, the Monotype council decided to finish implementing a major change to the metagame's tiering philosophy upon announcing the Hoopa-U suspect test, which is also discussed.

Hoopa-U on Dark teams

More than 75% of Hoopa-U run a Choice Scarf set on Dark teams. Such a set is chosen because it allows a Dark team to check major threats the rest of the team can't handle—most notably SubCM Keldeo due to Hyperspace Hole's ability to bypass Substitutes. Moreover, a Choice Scarf set is common because Hoopa-U's diverse movepool allows it to function as a reliable revenge killer and late-game cleaner against a variety of types. For instance, a fast Gunk Shot can let it revenge kill Fairy-types, which Dark teams are unable to check or counter using defensively oriented Pokémon.

The other 25% of Hoopa-U mainly focus on wallbreaking by running Life Orb or another Choice item. In this case, the general premise of successful teams is to stack powerful physical attackers such that Hoopa-U wallbreaks to allow Bisharp or Choice Scarf Moxie Krookodile to clean the weakened team.

Example Sets

Hoopa-Unbound @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Magician
EVs: 180 Atk / 76 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Hyperspace Fury
- Hyperspace Hole
- Gunk Shot
- Energy Ball

Hoopa-U on Psychic teams

The primary reason Hoopa-U was put up for suspect is its role on Psychic teams. Here, Hoopa-U has the freedom to run almost any set due to the diverse set of viable Pokémon these teams have access to. One of the most common offensive cores in the Monotype meta showcases Hoopa-U's potential on Psychic teams: Mega Gardevoir + Choice Scarf Victini + Hoopa-U.

This core addresses Psychic's main weaknesses through offensive Pokémon. Mega Gardevoir ravages Dark teams, Choice Scarf Victini covers Bug teams, and Hoopa-U destroys Ghosts. The remaining slots on the team typically go to defensive or utility Pokémon, such as Mew, Slowbro, Jirachi, and Latios. These Pokémon allow the members of the offensive core to pivot in and out throughout a match and provide additional coverage against the rest of the Monotype meta. These balanced Psychic teams are able to consistently win matches and are routinely encountered at the top end of competitive play.

More generally, Hoopa-U allows a Psychic team to run almost any Mega Evolution successfully (a rarity in Monotype). The general premise when building is to utilize Hoopa-U to check whatever your Mega Evolution is unable to reliably check. For example, if you choose Mega Gardevoir, which can struggle against Steel teams, you utilize a Hoopa-U set that breaks down Steel cores.

Given Hoopa-U's diverse movepool, this teambuilding concept is easily extended to breaking down other common cores across the metagame. For instance, a Nasty Plot Hoopa-U can break down common cores on Dark teams for Psychic teams that don't run (Mega) Gardevoir. The general utility Hoopa-U provides coupled with the dominance of Psychic in the metagame makes it suspect worthy.

Example Sets

Hoopa-Unbound @ Leftovers
Ability: Magician
EVs: 172 Atk / 80 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Drain Punch
- Dark Pulse
- Substitute
- Hidden Power Fire

While it is certainly a major threat, Hoopa-U isn't considered broken by many Monotype players. It is often very easy to identify the set it is running from Team Preview, which negates the unpredictability that derives from its diverse movepool. More importantly, Hoopa-U's lousy Defense stat and mediocre Speed leave it open to revenge killing, which means it is rare for Hoopa-U to get more than one KO at a time. Moreover, it carries a 4x weakness to the ever-present U-turn, which has gained prominence as one of the most reliable methods to check Hoopa-U while also maintaining initiative against Dark and Psychic teams' bulky cores.

Aegislash and Type Bans

Upon announcing the Hoopa-U suspect test, the Monotype council decided to finish implementing a major change to the metagame's tiering philosophy. Monotype used to utilize complex bans, colloquially referred to as 'type bans', that removed specific Pokémon from specific types. For example, Aegislash was legal on Ghost Monotype teams but illegal on Steel Monotype teams. For those of you more familiar with standard tiers, the type bans could be thought of as removing Mega Sableye from stall, but not balance.

Type bans were originally implemented in an effort to make all types usable in the Monotype meta. They were a great idea to experiment with and led to an increase in the Monotype playerbase as we explored how they shaped the metagame. Unfortunately, adding powerful Pokémon, such as Kyurem-W, Shaymin-S, and Aegislash, to lower-tier types, such as Ice, Grass, and Ghost (but not to Dragon, Flying, and Steel), did little to balance the meta. The top-tier types (Flying, Psychic, Water, etc.) continued to dominate, while these powerful Pokémon emphasized team matchup for lower-tier types. For instance, Grass teams with Shaymin-S still struggled to beat Fire teams (barring flinch hax), while Shaymin-S made the Water vs. Grass matchup, which experienced Water players could win prior to Shaymin-S's unban, nearly unwinnable for all Water players.

In August of 2015, the Monotype council unanimously voted to remove type bans from the Monotype tiering philosophy moving forward. At that time, Aegislash's type ban was grandfathered in because it wasn't deemed individually broken (i.e., Aegislash's ban from Steel teams centered around the cores it formed with other Pokémon, not the metagame's inability to check or counter the Pokémon individually). However, Aegislash's unique standing led to continued questions about the type ban policy, so the council decided to remove the inconsistency to prevent further confusion moving forward.

Conclusion and Outlook

After all the votes were tallied, only 50% of the vote was to ban Hoopa-U, which was well short of the 60% required to remove it from the metagame. Thus, Hoopa-U, and with it the powerful offensive cores it completes on Psychic teams, will remain a defining part of the ORAS Monotype metagame moving forward.

Undoubtedly, Aegislash's ban from Ghost teams is a huge loss. Previously, bulky offensive or balanced Ghost could hold its own at the top end of competitive play, but it is likely to see less usage without Aegislash. Doublade is the likely replacement, given the similar typing and possibility of running a bulky Swords Dance set—the most common set on Aegislash prior to the ban.

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