Monotype Playstyle Viability Rankings

[Anttya]

Monotype Playstyle Viability Rankings
Original idea by Enoch. Approved by Eevee General​

Welcome to the Monotype Playstyle Viability Rankings. Hopefully, this thread will serve as resource for both new and old players alike. Ranks will be given on how easy it is to use, and how it fares in the general metagame. Other factors such mon diversity will play a role as well. Like other Viability Rankings, Playstyles will be placed in either S, A, B, C, or D rank. S ranked playstyles will have a positive matchup a majority of the time, while D ranked playstyles will be more difficult.

Rules:

• Flaming will not be tolerated.
• Post smartly.
• When asking for a rank change, provide a small explanation.
• When asking to add a new playstyle, provide a team if possible.
• Only do playstyles you are familiar with
• When submitting a team (There can be multiple teams per playstyle), put it into a pastebin (no explanation needed, but recommended). Be sure to tell what type of playstyle it’s for. Feel free to make it generic!

Definitions of each Rank

S Rank: Reserved for playstyles that have a positive matchup against a majority of other playstyles meaning that no match will ever be one sided. The Pokemon that are generally used in these playstyles are generally above average in general, and are able to hold their own with little support. In addition to that, they all have their own cores which are hard to beat for some types. These playstyles define the metagame. (Little risk, high reward)

A Rank: Reserved for playstyles that have a positive matchup against a lot of other playstyles but they may be very weak to 1-2 playstyles. However, they can find a way to beat them or they are a solid playstyle but they struggle when vsing a majority of S Rank playstyles. The Pokemon used in these playstyles highly depend on each other and require a lot of support. These playstyles influence the metagame. (Some risk, high reward)

B Rank: Reserved for playstyles that have occasionally have a positive matchup, but they often have a hard time against many others. They have just enough Pokemon to get by, and they’re often quite predictable. These playstyles are adaptable to the metagame. (Some risk, medium reward)

C Rank: Reserved for playstyles that are situational, and depending on the matchup you may have already lost. These playstyles are hard to use, and require a more experienced player. It gets what it needs to be successful, but at the end it’s still gimmicky. These playstyles have a hard time adapting to the metagame. (High risk, medium reward)

D Rank: Reserved for playstyles that are very gimmicky or difficult to use. These playstyles are generally created because of that one Pokemon’s ability or move. However, it’s still effective enough to have a rank. These playstyles rarely adapt to the metagame. (High risk, little reward)

Note: Please do not let these ranks discourage you from using a specific playstyle. They are only meant to help people choose depending on their skill level. If you’re not sure, try out a team, and if you enjoy it, use it :)

An example of a post:

Hide

Balanced / Bulky Flying for S Rank

With access to a ton of good Pokemon, Balanced Flying is a threat to prepare for. Flying is also has access to many support moves such as Spikes and Heal Bell, and a lot of viable Pokemon get Defog. When you put these together, I think it deserves S rank.

S Rank

Reserved for playstyles that have a positive matchup against a majority of other playstyles meaning that no match will ever be one sided. The Pokemon that are generally used in these playstyles are generally above average in general, and are able to hold their own with little support. In addition to that, they all have their own cores which are hard to beat for some types. These playstyles define the metagame. (Little risk, high reward)

S

Balanced/Bulky Flying

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Anttya’s Bulky Flying (Featuring Defog Zard-X)

Balanced Psychic

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TheTacoMan's Balanced Psychic

A Rank

Reserved for playstyles that have a positive matchup against a lot of other playstyles but they may be very weak to 1-2 playstyles. However, they can find a way to beat them or they are a solid playstyle but they struggle when vsing a majority of S Rank playstyles. The Pokemon used in these playstyles highly depend on each other and require a lot of support. These playstyles influence the metagame. (Some risk, high reward)

Balanced Ground

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Kaiser's Balanced Ground

Hyper Offense Fighting

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FreeRoamer's HO Fighting

Balanced Normal

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RunBabyRun's Balanced Normal

Hyper Offense Fire

Hide

Zarif's HO Fire

Switch Swim Water

Hide

None yet, go contribute one!

B Rank

Reserved for playstyles that have occasionally have a positive matchup, but they often have a hard time against many others. They have just enough Pokemon to get by, and they’re often quite predictable. These playstyles are adaptable to the metagame. (Some risk, medium reward)

Tailwind Bug

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Death God Anubis's Tailwind Team (Featuring M-Heracross)

C Rank

Reserved for playstyles that are situational, and depending on the matchup you may have already lost. These playstyles are hard to use, and require a more experienced player. It gets what it needs to be successful, but at the end it’s still gimmicky. These playstyles have a hard time adapting to the metagame. (High risk, medium reward)

Stall Ghost

Hide

N64Lord's Stall Ghost
N64Lord's Other Stall Ghost

D Rank

Reserved for playstyles that are very gimmicky or difficult to use. These playstyles are generally created because of that one Pokemon’s ability or move. However, it’s still effective enough to have a rank. These playstyles rarely adapt to the metagame. (High risk, little reward)

Nothing atm :(

 

[Anttya]

Reserved, you may now post! :D

 

[Freeroamer]

Hyper Offense Fighting for A Rank

Will add a pastebin when on a laptop but quite simply this is one of the most fun play styles I've used recently in Monotype. Fighting has always been well known for its offensive nature, and this playstyle takes full advantage of that. You should generally lead with Infernape, aiming to quickly get rocks and put offensive pressure on your opponent to prevent them settin up early. From there you simply abuse the plethora of offensive threats at your disposal to outpace and overwhelm opposing teams. Generally you'll have a certain mon that performs really well against certain teams, such as Breloom vs Water and Ground, Medicham breaks like everything, Keldeo does well vs Dragon etc. You do have to adapt a certain mentality when using this kind of team though, one I like to call "sac and attack" which refers to the fact you will get very few switches when using this team. Your best bet is to devise a game plan before the battle starts, identifying which mons are necessary and which aren't as much, this will allow you to make the plays you need to get your threats inside and wreck shit.

The team I'm providing is a personal favourite of mine, there are definitely changes you can make if you prefer, adding Terrakion maybe in place of Lucario could be a good start. I can't sing the praises of Adamant Life Orb Breloom enough though, it hits really fucking hard.

http://pastebin.com/HhcZuTq4

 

[RedsCharizard]

Balanced Ground for A+ rank


Anyways, balanced ground is incredibly good in the metagame, given the fact that it has incredibly good type coverage offensively while also being able to defend against a handful of types as well. What makes it particularly attractive are the powerhouses of OU like Garchomp, Excadrill and Landorus - which is the offensive core of most ground teams, capable of dealing huge damage. Alongside those, Hippowdon is an excellent setter of Stealth Rocks while also having access to Roar, Toxic, Slack Off, Earthquake, and the combination of a water/ground type such as Gastrodon, Quagsire or Seismitoad(all of which can absorb water and do not take SE damage from ice attacks). Gliscor can also be used to absorb Knock Off and status moves.
Ground usually doesn't fear entry hazards, so it's not pressured to spin away rocks as much as teams such as flying and fire. This makes switching Pokemon a lot less expensive.

However, there is one large drawback to the type - nearly every Pokemon is physically attacking, pressuring teams to keep Landorus, Nidoking alive and well to get past walls such as Skarmory and Slowbro. It is not completely suited to be S rank, given that it does require constant sand support for one of its main offensive powerhouses to work - Excadrill, who is a staple on most ground teams today. It's not completely required, of course, but it does hinder the playstyle. Furthermore, there is an inconsistency of special walls - the defensive core is easily brought down by users of Draco Meteor, Fire Blast, etc.

teams

Sample team - basic cores, edit freely - however, given sets are recommended: http://pastebin.com/j6WZbc4n
Pk-Kaiser's Balanced Ground: http://monotypeps.weebly.com/pk-kaisers-balanced-ground.html

 

[TheTacoMan]

Balanced Psychic for S rank

The psychic type is generally known to have feared regenerating walls such as Slowbro along side record setting attack stats in Mega-Medicham.
Lead / physical attacker / special attacker / physical wall / special wall / scarfer. This is a very good build for any balanced team and psychics have excellent pokemon to fill every role with great synergy and type coverage.
By having each pokemon so different in terms of stats, it makes it difficult to counter the team from using one pokemon. And more often than not, you will be able to have a reliable switch in. In terms of hazard control, Lati@s will be the best option to just slap defog on whilst doubling as an offensive threat. If you find mew to be lack luster, putting defog on it over taunt or stealth rocks is also a viable option.
http://pastebin.com/206seHKg In this example, Mew is the lead. Medicham is the physical attacker. Latios is the special attacker. Slowbro is the physical defense. Meloetta is the special defense. Gardevoir is the scarfer.

 

[all falls down]

I would remove S+ and S- and unsplit it just to form S rank, it would be better considering there will only be 3 types up there mostly anyways and no one type is insanely better than the other 2.
Also would switch Psychic and Ground's rankings.

I'll probably edit this post to contribute later

 

[Anttya]

I would remove S+ and S- and unsplit it just to form S rank, it would be better considering there will only be 3 types up there mostly anyways and no one type is insanely better than the other 2.
Also would switch Psychic and Ground's rankings.

I'll probably edit this post to contribute later

Why switch? I can see Ground being S as well, but why drop Psychic?

 

[Freeroamer]

Tbh to add on to afd's points, I think maybe just flat ranks in general might be better cos there's quite a finite number of styles and with sub ranks you're only going to have like one thing in each sub rank. If it looks crowded later we can split it back up.

 

[Whydon]

Balanced Normal for A Rank

The Normal type for monotype gained a few great boosts when OR/AS came around. The additions of Mega Lopunny and Mega Pidgeot have given great coverage for the Normal type. MegaLop's Scrappy allows it to deal with Ghost types, whose immunity to Normal types gave Normal types a bit of trouble beating. Other Options include Diggersby, Staraptor, and Heliolisk for offense. This isn't for hyper offense, though. Normal has some pretty nice walls which it can use to stall out opponents. A good and balanced Normal type team is normally very difficult to beat.

Physical Wall / Special Wall / Ghost Beater / Scarfer / Lead / Fighting Beater
This is ultimately the basic setup you will see for Balanced Fighting. A lead for Normal is a good way for getting up hazards, and luckily for Normal, they have access to every type of hazards through Smeargle. A Physical Wall is a Pokemon that can switch in to nearly any hit and heal it back up. Chansey is great at this due to its extremely high HP, access to Eviolite, Wish, and Softboiled. Its already high Special Defense allows it to take a few special hits as well. The special wall is something that is reliable enough to switch in to a powerful special attack. Chansey takes special hits well but is mainly for physical hits. A good example of this would be Porygon2, due to having access to Eviolite and Recover. Another good option is Meloetta, who has the ability to switch in to Scarfed or Specs Gengar. Meloetta also has access to Leftovers, which is good. A Fighting Beater is almost always something you need. Fighting is Normal's only weakness, and can definitely do a lot to it. The Fighting Beater is typically something that can hit hard or fast. Most people use Flying types for this slot, such as Mega Pidgeot or Staraptor. They are both fast Pokemon which can hit hard. Mega Pidgeot hits hard on the special side and Staraptor hits hard on the physical side. Meloetta is a viable option, but Specially Defensive variants don't take physical attacks very well. The Ghost Beater is almost always MegaLop, due to her Scrappy ability. MegaLop should, however, watch out for things such as Sableye, who may be packing a Will-o-Wisp. And finally, the Scarfer. Most of the time, you'll find either Heliolisk, Diggersby, Staraptor, or Ditto filling this role. Heliolisk is a powerful special attacker, Diggersby is a good answer for steels, Staraptor is a good flying check, and Ditto can transform into Pokemon that are setting up so they can potentially sweep your team, and then outspeed them with the Scarf.

http://pastebin.com/raw.php?i=785myHyq
This team has Smeargle as the lead, and its main role is to set up hazards.
Chansey is the physical wall, boasting the Eviolite and Wish + Softboiled, and at full health can live a scarfed CC from Terrakion.
Meloetta is the specially defensive wall. Its Assault Vest allows to take many special hits, and Serene Grace increases the chance of added effects from her moves.
Staraptor is the flying check of this team, being able to hit hard with Brave Bird. Chansey can switch in to predicted Stone Edges.
Mega Lopunny is the Ghost beater on the team. Scrappy allows her to hit ghost types with normal and fighting attack STAB.
Ditto is the main scarfer of this team, and is mainly used to switch and transform into things that have setup.

This team does, however, have trouble with Hyper Offense Steel and Fighting, as once Chansey and Meloetta are gone, this team has nearly nothing to take a super effective hit. There is also no real Special Attacker, so Defensive Walls are definitely a problem, but Ditto can try to Transform into opposing special attackers. Mega Sableye with Will-o-Wisp and Calm Mind is definitely a problem, as it can pretty much wall the entirety of this team once MegaLop is either gone or is burned.

 

[Anttya]

Tbh to add on to afd's points, I think maybe just flat ranks in general might be better cos there's quite a finite number of styles and with sub ranks you're only going to have like one thing in each sub rank. If it looks crowded later we can split it back up.

Sounds good, less work for us all too. xD

 

[Death God Anubis]

With Ground the way its usage as it is, as well as other problems for this team, as well as other playstyles of Bug, I got to nominate Tailwind or HO Bug for B+ Class. This might look like a gimmick to a lot of people, but its worthy of being at this height, due to the fact it can rip apart many playstyles, but struggles against notable examples that have especially high usage, as with ground, and Weather teams like Water's many swift swimmers, many of which outspeed and decimate Bug's terrible "walls". Flying as well can stall out Bug, as it is weak as hell to alot of what Flying offers, There's a lot of variation of cores with Bug and their mega's, but most of them centralize around the few pokemon actually worth using on a bug mono, because there are alot of bad Bug pokemon.

This team, like Freeroamer's is a personal favorite of mine: http://pastebin.com/aFFZySuS
Changes to this team could probably include: Switching EV spreads around if you really want to, adding Bullet Seed or Earthquake to Heracross.

Bug Tailwind 'not a gimmick' how to use

You can usually just lead with Forrestress, and throw out rocks, spin, explode on something, pass momentum to something else, with (hopefully) the opponent's rocks gone. Tailwind Volbeat is what I throw out after, to either Thunder Wave or Encore, or Tailwind if I feel like it. (fuck confuse ray)
Then Heracross-M can either do one of two options: Wallbreak, or sweep. Then just switch in Banded Scizor or clean if it can't break a Fairy mon, or clean with scarf Gene. Volc is mostly there to absorb Will-o-Wisps, and be a great setup mon, as well as annoy Steel Mono's.

Now if you question Scizor's EVs, they are there to speed creep Heatran, and be an interesting Tailwind sweeper. If you're questioning Gene's item, having to sacc something to revenge kill something is generally annoying, so you don't have to set up Tailwind every time something knocks something out.

Going to organize list below in types I think more as threats.

Type matchup to Bug in general.

Water: Keldeo: What can I say? It generally just beats on this team, generally what I do is revenge kill it with Scarf Gene or Tailwind --> Heracross to apply pressure. Gyarados applies pressure, stall doesn't do much besides get wallbroken.
Ground: Excadrill, Mamoswine, Nidoking/Queen Landorus all hit v. hard against this team. Excadrill just decimates this offensive team. Try to abuse Ice Beam + U-turn to force switches and gain momentum.
Fire : I mostly just struggle against Fake Out Ape and getting my rocks up, which is annoying and breaks Sturdy on my Forrestress, not allowing me to explode on it properly, and kills it. Scarf Heracross can screw around with Fire.
Rock : .. Who struggles with Scizor and Gene on their team. If you are struggling that hard, Tailwind + Heracross destroys, or just specs/lo gene.
Grass: Get decimated by Bug, lol volc and pinsir and heracross and scizor and lolol
Flying: Close Combat from Heracross-M 2hkos Skarm. Watch for Char Y/X and other Flying STAB spammers, like Tornadus. Remember to apply pressure with Genesect's BoltBeam. Pinsir-M/Scizor-M can't touch Skarm, so properly removing that can be a pain.
Normal: Watch for Lopunny-M and Pidgeot-M, tailwind properly/speed control properly, and watch for the set on Staraptor. Heracross-M kills the walls, but Staraptor, if its not bulky bird, can kill 1-3 mons before it dies from recoil.
Ice: Again, with Rock, you have a Genesect and a Scizor. Guess how this goes. Watch for Kyu-B I guess, maybe that Cloyster meanie setup.
Dragon: Scizor 2hko-3hko's mostly everything after Rox with Banded Punch, Keep Scizor or Gene alive, Heracross can't beat Altaria-M generally unless on the switch, because after it megas, Rock Blast is negated by Roosting. Scizor and Pinsir handle it a bit more easily, Beedrill-M would easily dominate the hyper offensive nature of Dragon.
Steel: Watch for Doublade. Team above struggles with it, it stops Heracross in its tracks and can stall Bug out with Rocks + Spikes easily. Pinsir-M and Scizor-M both have coverage options for Steel, but get phased out by Skarmory.
Bug: Watch for Pinsir-M and Volcorona. Also Scarfed Gene with Flamethrower/Blaze Kick. Set up Volc to win basically or Pinsir-M. Clearing rocks off the field is a good idea, but try not to just die to a Volc.
Electric: Watch for hax, that's about it. Heracross kills everything except Thundy, which is forced to thunder wave it in hopes everything else doesn't just up and die.
Ghost: Volc kills Sableye and mostly.. everything, Guts Heracross can put in work if it manages to catch a Will-O-Wisp. Pinsir-M and Scizor-M can put in work, but have to watch for scarf Chandy.
Psychic: .. Hahaha, Tailwind Banded Scizor has no switch ins versus Psychic. Watch for Victini, it hko's or in the case of Volc or Armaldo without Rocks, 2hkos everything. Plus, Beedrill-M laughs alot at Psychic as it u-turns.
Dark: As with the case for Psychic, Banded Scizor's Bug Bite just destroys. Genesect, Volc, Pinsir, any bug pokemon that runs Bug STAB can laugh alot.
Fighting: Watch Keldeo, also, a lot of Fighting Mons outspeed the few non speedy pokemon that are on bug. Terrakion can wreak havoc, either banded or not.
Fairy: Banded or SD Scizor anybody? Haha, watch for the fire from these Fairies.
Poison: Scizor-M or Pinsir-M shines in this department. Both lay hurt down on Poison mons.

Bug, however having good match ups on many teams, it can depend on your mega as well as what team you are facing, and what style. Heracross-M thrives against Stall, and some forms of offense, Pinsir-M decimates many teams with its strong priority and a Swords Dance. Scizor-M does.. something, applies lots of pressure, same for Beedrill-M. I wouldn't say Beedrill-M offers much to Bug, but it really doesn't, strong powerful Bug STAB can be offered by something that's banded or scarfed. But unfortunately, Bug struggles with common types: Water, Fighting, Flying, Steel, and Ground.

 

[n64lord]

Stall Ghost for C rank

Newer players get stumped by aegislash and mega sableye all the time, but using ghost in monotype is a bit hit and miss, as the options for teambuilding are limited, and the good pokemon don't really complement each other. Additionally ghost despises flying, ground, and most water (mainly tentacruel/gyarados) which is unpleasant given how common they are. Overall though ghost is a pretty neutral type, with no real huge advantages in it's match ups, but no huge disadvantages either. Ghost can be very cruel to teams that rely on rapid spin like bug and fire, because the hazards can never be removed, and this advantage can carry over to team's that don't use defog very often, like fairy, ground, and steel, especially if froslass is used, as while you can't remove hazards, having more damaging hazards than your opponent will even it up.

The general format for this kind of team is hazard mon/ aegislash/ mega sableye / anti-stall / dedicated wall / volcarona check
Both golurk and froslass have their advantages and disadvantages, with golurk being especially good against difficult bug/fire matchups and froslass better against teams with amazing defog users like flying/psychic. Aegislash has a handful of different sets it can run and it's EVs can be tweaked for different jobs as well, but it can always tank a few neutral and a smaller number of super effective attacks while hitting back hard. Sableye can manhandle weakened or unprepared teams, and also prevents moves that threaten stall like toxic spikes from going up, even when you need to take KOs with another pokemon. An anti-stall mon is vital against things that can undo your progress and can't be KOd easily such as wishpassers. It can be done with certain versions of gengar (sub split, taunt) a defensive mon with trapping ability (infestation/pursuit), toxic spikes cofag(should still have a damaging hazard mon partner) or curse (least stressful on spirtomb and treveant) Dedicated walls range from the popular jellicent to the unpopular gourgeist; Healing, bulk, and the ability to discourage setup is important. Volcarona can demolish ghost on it's own. Luckily scarf chandelure has two different ways to check it (working regardless of situation), while jellicent is able to deal with most sets (although toxic+night shade is also viable if you are really afraid of substitute volcarona+ want set damage for something like clefable or the low HP megasalbeye). Sadly fast wall breakers can quickly become a problem if you don't combine roles or want to use pokemon that require less prediction like cofagrius or dusclops.

The given team has an unusually easy time against mega lopunny, ground, and dragon teams, and has also won the majority of it's games against bug and steel. Bulky gyarados, hawlucha (scrafty is easy), and clefable have only limited checks on this team, and it's also devastated by fire. The second team is easier to use, especially against bug, ice, and fire, but suffers against ground in return.
http://pastebin.com/k7wH8ZxB
http://pastebin.com/D9dvYyhB

 

[Zar]

Hyper Offense Fire for A Rank

With the raw power Fire has,making a Fire team that doesn't involve offense. Fire generally has a lot of issues with Stealth Rock damage which is why I prefer having hazard control on my team. Usually I'd run Torkoal as a spinner but in this case I'm running Charizard-Y as my Defogger.I have Heatran (Wall) as my Hazard Setter, Infernape as a Mixed attacker, Rotom-Heat (Special) and Darmanitan (Physical) as my two Choice Scarfers, Charizard-Y as my Defogger and main Special Attacker, Entei as my bulky attacker (kinda).

Mixed/Wall/Special Attacker/Physical Attacker/Physical Scarf/Special Scarf


Darmanitan in sun from Charizard-Y basically ploughs through everything. Entei is nice for some bulky offense and has Sacred Fire which has 50% to burn. Rotom-H is good against Dragons. Heatran provides the team with some bulk. Infernape is to prevent possible sweeps and is nice against Steel. I generally lead with Darmanitan or Rotom-Heat to scout out what my opponent is gonna lead with and U-Turn/Volt Switch if needed.

The Team

Infernape @ Focus Sash
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Close Combat
- Mach Punch
- Fire Blast
- Earthquake

Heatran @ Air Balloon
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earth Power
- Lava Plume
- Toxic

Charizard-Mega-Y @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Drought
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Fire Blast
- Defog
- SolarBeam
- Focus Blast

Darmanitan @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- U-turn

Rotom-Heat @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Overheat

Entei @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Iron Head
- ExtremeSpeed
- Stone Edge​

P.S: I'm not really good at explaining and writing stuff ;;

 

[RedsCharizard]

Swift Swim water for A rank

Plain and simple - Swift Swim water has a great niche in the metagame. Doubled speed, double the power on water type attacks - few Pokemon are capable of switching into any moves that a swift swim team uses. It is fairly straightforward - however, it does have some drawbacks. With the damp rock banned, one only gets 5 turns of rain, thus increasing the need of running Rain Dance on its Pokemon. Therefore, it's important to not make your team too reliant on keeping up rain.

The general format for the team is Politoed / Swift Swim / Swift Swim / backup sweeper / wall / bulky attacker or wall.

Politoed puts up rain instantly upon switching in, so it's a must for all Swift Swim teams. The Swift Swim sweepers are usually Ludicolo, Mega Swampert and Kingdra. The backup sweeper can be Keldeo, Gyarados or something else - depending on preference. Your choice of walls is quite large - Slowbro, Alomomola, Empoleon are all great. The last slot can be used by Manaphy, Assault Vest Slowking or another wall to create a defensive core.

 

[Alexis Breeze]

Hyper Offense Normal for B Rank

We are all familiar with Normal Balance usually relying on the Eviolite core (Chansey/Porygon) and backed up by either Bulkyraptor or Mega Audino. We are also familiar with Balance Flying covering each other weaknesses pretty well and forming a nice -OP- core. However, we rarely see bird spam even on Flying teams (actually the use of a Flying attack on Monoflying is somewhat rare except for maybe Togekiss). If you think about it, Flying as an attack is resisted by Electric, Rock and Steel. From those three, Rock is rarely seen on the ladder and Electric has no other resistances (except Electric itself). With that in mind, I'm sure other people have tried with moderate success a bird spam team. Usually you would see something like

Choiced Staraptor (Scarf or Band) / Braviary (Scarf or Bulk Up) / Smeargle Lead / Diggersby / Mega (Loppuny or Pidgeot) / Cleaner-Revenge Killer (Swellow or Cinccino etc)

http://pastebin.com/qP0csWsT

Here I present one team of this kind. The idea is to quickly set up with Smeargle depending of the team you are facing. Banded Raptor, Scarf Braviary and Mega Pidgeot form your bird spam core. Diggersby is your MVP against Steel and Electric, types that would give trouble to your birds. Between Heliolisk, Diggersby and Staraptor you also have a nice VoltTurn core to wear down opponent's checks. Heliolisk and Mega Pidgeot also help you with physical walls such as Skarm, Hippo or Slowbro. The key is to apply pressure from the beginning as you don't have a spin blocker and even a +2 Defiant boosted Braviary can get walled if the opponent uses Defog (unless is late game). Also, because most of your core is air based, opposing Sticky Web is not a problem for you and I'll gladly exchange the hazard set up against Electric for example. Cool thing is, it brings a totally different matchup for your opponent. Normally, Fighting would eat a Normal team alive, with this team you have the upper hand, in fact you should be winning against Fighting most of the times (Lead Nape is tricky to play around sometimes though). Bug is on similar boat except you need to play well against opposing Forry/Armaldo. Ideally you want to Spore Forretress then go to Mega Pidgeot to apply pressure on the team as Heat Wave/Hurricane hurt them all. Against Ghost, Magic Coat Smeargle could do the trick, if not you will have to rely on Hurricane's confusion against M-Sableye or if you manage to get Banded Raptor in healthy it can 2HKO any switch in if not burned. This team struggles with teams that have more than one physical wall and/or good ways to get rid of hazards. Stealth Rock and status also hurts (which is why sometimes Swellow can be ran instead) so basically you don't want to go over turn 20 otherwise there is a good chance you will lose.

tl;dr Some risk, good reward requires some skill to use effectively
Great matchups : Fighting, Bug, Grass
OK matchups: Steel, Electric, Ghost, Fairy, Water
Bad matchups: very HO teams (Ground, Fire) or very bulky teams (Psychic, Normal)

 

[Wish9]

Balanced / Bulky Dark for A Rank

Dark is very interesting. Despite being the 6th rarest type, it has all the mons it needs to be good. Very good matchups across the board barring a few such as Fairies and it also has a nearly unlosable matchup vs. Ghost. It requires some prediction to use but has an otherwise low learning curve. That being said however, it is not flawless. The aforementioned Fairy type can easily set up on Dark teams or outright destroy them. While Bisharp will almost always be on every Dark team, if it dies, you are basically screwed against Fairy (be wary that Clefable can run Flamethrower to lure in Bisharp). Bug teams, to a lesser extent, can also find multiple oppurtunities to set up on Dark. Ironically, Psychic vs. Dark is an arguably even matchup due to many Psychic teams carrying Mega Medi, Gallade, or Mega Gardevoir, all of which can decimate Dark at any point. Other Psychic types commonly carry coverage moves such as Focus Blast and Dazzling Gleam. Nevertheless, Dark is very good as the pros outshine the cons overall.

Mandibuzz / Mega Sableye / Bisharp / Stealth Rock Setter / Wallbreaker / Backup Sweeper or Scarf

Mandibuzz and Mega Sableye cover Fighting while Bisharp covers Fairies. You have either Tyranitar or Krookodile to set up SR. I'd personally use SD Crawdaunt as my wallbreaker but there are other options including Banded Crawdaunt. You have a large variety of options for either a backup sweeper or scarf such as Mega Ttar (assuming you don't use Mega Sableye), Hydreigon, Weavile, Honchkrow, and Zoroark.
EDIT: If you are REALLY scared of Fairy types, then Drapion is a decent teammate too.

 

[truedrew]

Hyper Offense Normal for B Rank

We are all familiar with Normal Balance usually relying on the Eviolite core (Chansey/Porygon) and backed up by either Bulkyraptor or Mega Audino. We are also familiar with Balance Flying covering each other weaknesses pretty well and forming a nice -OP- core. However, we rarely see bird spam even on Flying teams (actually the use of a Flying attack on Monoflying is somewhat rare except for maybe Togekiss). If you think about it, Flying as an attack is resisted by Electric, Rock and Steel. From those three, Rock is rarely seen on the ladder and Electric has no other resistances (except Electric itself). With that in mind, I'm sure other people have tried with moderate success a bird spam team. Usually you would see something like

Choiced Staraptor (Scarf or Band) / Braviary (Scarf or Bulk Up) / Smeargle Lead / Diggersby / Mega (Loppuny or Pidgeot) / Cleaner-Revenge Killer (Swellow or Cinccino etc)

http://pastebin.com/qP0csWsT

Here I present one team of this kind. The idea is to quickly set up with Smeargle depending of the team you are facing. Banded Raptor, Scarf Braviary and Mega Pidgeot form your bird spam core. Diggersby is your MVP against Steel and Electric, types that would give trouble to your birds. Between Heliolisk, Diggersby and Staraptor you also have a nice VoltTurn core to wear down opponent's checks. Heliolisk and Mega Pidgeot also help you with physical walls such as Skarm, Hippo or Slowbro. The key is to apply pressure from the beginning as you don't have a spin blocker and even a +2 Defiant boosted Braviary can get walled if the opponent uses Defog (unless is late game). Also, because most of your core is air based, opposing Sticky Web is not a problem for you and I'll gladly exchange the hazard set up against Electric for example. Cool thing is, it brings a totally different matchup for your opponent. Normally, Fighting would eat a Normal team alive, with this team you have the upper hand, in fact you should be winning against Fighting most of the times (Lead Nape is tricky to play around sometimes though). Bug is on similar boat except you need to play well against opposing Forry/Armaldo. Ideally you want to Spore Forretress then go to Mega Pidgeot to apply pressure on the team as Heat Wave/Hurricane hurt them all. Against Ghost, Magic Coat Smeargle could do the trick, if not you will have to rely on Hurricane's confusion against M-Sableye or if you manage to get Banded Raptor in healthy it can 2HKO any switch in if not burned. This team struggles with teams that have more than one physical wall and/or good ways to get rid of hazards. Stealth Rock and status also hurts (which is why sometimes Swellow can be ran instead) so basically you don't want to go over turn 20 otherwise there is a good chance you will lose.

tl;dr Some risk, good reward requires some skill to use effectively
Great matchups : Fighting, Bug, Grass
OK matchups: Steel, Electric, Ghost, Fairy, Water
Bad matchups: very HO teams (Ground, Fire) or very bulky teams (Psychic, Normal)

Hi there this is a play type that I have run successfully and must say that your build can be greatly improved.
Firstly mega lopuny>Pidgeot sue to the reason it helps a lot more vs steel and does well vs fighting while still providing very good matchups vs fighting and ghost. Also it's much faster at 405 speed and it provides the best team support in healing wish which allows you to spam something twice which is can be critical in breaking the opponent. Also your Sr weakness too much as Smeargle can only take so many attacks.
also the fact that you have forgotten about specs Mel being able to wall break as no too much wants to take 390 plus a specs boost hyper voice as normal is a legit spam tactic (STABMONS LOL) due to very few types being immune/resisting it.

Also you forget that this archetype hates hazards so removal is a necessity. There are 2 routes either run a dedicated remover or use ditto.
ditto is my preference as firstly it scouts their move sets which can be critical in deciding your game plan. It also deters bulky set up sweepers such as manaphy or crocune due to it being able to copy their boosts. Also it provides a amazing switch in to opposing walls to steal hazards/support moves. Lastly ditto can be a great sack without much of a cost as well its doing only one thing.

Now you also forgo pyroar whom is great and can dismantle steel on its own with just a bit of prior damage with a nice mixed set of bulldoze +stab as not much on steel can take it and it's good base speed means that not.much apart from scarves will be our speeding it.

So I would like to propose a change from the given format to something like this

Ditto/Physical wall breaker/Special wall breaker/Mega evo/Attacker one/Attacker 2

Here's a replay showcasing how some smart playing and heavy hitters gain a 2-0 comeback vs swift swim water with screens! No mega evo either lol
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/monotype-212650565

 

[RZL]

Offensive Water for S rank

Water has a plethora of Pokemon to utilize allowing to use many Archetypes, which makes it one of the best types. Water has everything that Offense likes to have such as, a fast spinner, several great wallbreakers, a strong cleaner, a rocker, and the ability to hit its weakness hard. It has many Pokemon that can do all these rolls effectively.

Spinner/Keldeo/Azumarill / Mega-Gyarados / Swampert /Revenge Killer (If Keldeo is scarfed add a Pokemon which follows a role you would've needed)

Offensive Water also needs a grass knot absorber. The spinner in almost all cases is either Starmie, or Tentacruel. Starmie hits harder, and Tentacruel is a bit bulkier and does not run much investment in speed, but both spin hazards away, and remove Mega-Venusaur to a high degree. Keldeo should ubiquitous on Offensive Water because it can be either a Wallbreaker with Specs, or a Revenge Killer with Scarf, or is a powerful cleaner with SubCM. Azumarill is also ubiquitous because it harms Dragons to high degree, and it can also be immune to Grass with Sap Sipper. Azumarill preforms the roles of cleaner with BD, and Wallbreaker with Choice Band (If SapSipper is run this should be set you are using). Mega-Gyarados is less necessary the previously mentioned pokemon, but Mega-Gyarados uses its bulk to set up early game, and breaker through many walls, and is a huge help against Electric once Zapdos is removed. Swampert is the best Rocker for Offensive Water because it has an offensive presence, and Water sadly does not get many rockers. The revenge killer is usually Rotom-Wash for me but can be any choice scarf user on Water such as, Keldeo...yeah water is very bulky.

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/nimbus-monotype-2734 MonoPL match vs Ridley (The Yeah League)
RIP getting more replays

http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/oras-ou-water-monotype-team.3537015/ read this for more information. #shamelessplug

 

[n64lord]

Balanced Fairy for C rank

Fairy has been increasingly marginalized since the mega mawile ban, but it still has astounding good support pokemon to give several excellent sweepers the edge they need to defeat a wide variety of teams. However, the most popular threats on the ladder are among fairy's worst matchups.

The format for this kind of team is klefki/ azumarill / mega / togekiss / antistall / special tank
Klefki provides screens and sometimes spikes, which makes the offensive fairy mons much more splashable, giving them plenty of time to setup, and alleviating the focus sash blues. Azumarill is effective with near guranteed screen support and is capable of running sets to beat some of its checks. Mega Diancie is cabable of leading against some of the mons that beat klefki, and also packs a big punch against flying teams and other semistall teams that threaten fairy's main wincons. Mega gardevoir is also fast compared to other fairy types, and while it does not have magic bounce, it can taunt and 2hKO most walls between it's coverage. Togekiss is a superb pivot that can use it's bulk and air slash to get through mons in a pinch before or after losing your sweepers. Clefable is just as good as it is in OU, with the ability to force anything that gets a 3HKO on it out, and completely ignoring it's choice of stall mons or setup sweepers with it's abiilties. Trick using normal gardevoir or whimsicott can do this slightly better against specific threats, but suffer against generic teams. The last slot generally goes to something like florges or sylveon, who work as psuedo clerics in theory, but more often their biggest contribution comes from their still decent attacking power.

The sample team has very bad matchups against ground, steel, and bug. most psychic, water, and fire teams pose a large problem as well. It can also be stalled out by a well built poison, ghost, or grass team. Success vs flying largely depends on how aggressively skarmory and landorus are used.
http://pastebin.com/UH7XRUMp

 

[n64lord]

Offensive Dragon for B rank

Dragon types have always enjoyed marvelous neutral coverage, and have a huge number of pokemon with the offense to put this coverage to use, which lets them smash through defensive teams. Almost all of their sweepers also have enough bulk to shrug off an attack and keep going on, which allows them to win against other offense teams like fighting and Bug.

The format for these teams tends to be Hazard mon / Dragon Dancer/ Defogger / Kyurem-B / Mega Altaria / Offensive Pivot

Garchomp is the most common source of stealth rock, and he can do it equally well with offensive Evs or tank Evs, as few defoggers or spinners can stay in on him. Druddigon works similiarly, but uses glare and dragon tail to spread status instead of outright killing defogers coming in on him. A Dragon dancer lends itself to these teams as having it acts as a wincon when used against weakened teams, and forces out the opponets main physical wall to trade otherwise. This usually gives the other physical dragon mons free reign to run amok. Defog Latias or latios help some of the most powerful dragons, as both dnite and kyurem are weak to stealth rock. Both have deadly special attack as well. Kyurem is almost too good to pass up, as it's stats and bolt beam make ceirtain matchups a walk in the park, and even when faced with SE moves, he can live with some sets. Mega Altaria is another pokemon who is a huge oppurtunity to pass up. It can be used to defeat ceirtain types on its own, or simply force opponets to guess at its set. Finally an offensive pivot rounds everything off. The dragon's with coverage against steel mons are preferred, but any Choice Scarfed dragon can fill the void by eliminating the risks of having to guess what sets ceirtain pokemon are running.

The sample team uses a tanky set for mega alt, garchomp, and kyurem, and also gives both dragonite and mega altaria a way to get past status. It does not give most of team members coverage moves for fairy types, but gardevoir on psychic teams and azumarill on water teams are very easy to wear out, minimizing the risk outside of the actual fairy matchup. The slower team members can become a liability against megaswampert. manaphy, and keldeo if you don't control the hazards early on(so you can tank their attacks), and base 100 spe wall breakers like medicham can outspeed 5/6 of the team. Steel and ground matchups are made easier than usual in return for these risks.
http://pastebin.com/yt4SmstB

 

[n64lord]

Sticky Web Bug for A rank

Bug is now more used than flying so wahay. Most bug teams are some form of Hyper offense supporting a mega. Bug tends to be respectable well against everything except flying, fire, and ghost, but many of the other types have one- off threats that you really have to watch out for.

The format tends to be sticky web setter/ spinner/ volcarona / genesect / Mega / pivot

Galvantula and shuckle can both set up webs pretty well, and things like ground, they won't even have to worry about them ever getting defogged. Galvantula can run energyball or hidden power for coverage, but volt switch gives it a second role against teams that have mostly or completely web-immune mons. Arnaldo can spin and attack specific threats to bug, while forretress can set up Stealth rock dependably, and defend it by making defog "have no target". Volcarona can run more defensive or more offensive sets, but it's a pretty major threat to different teams depending on its coverage. Genesect has amazing coverage, and can hit many threats easily. Bug has three mega's with good wall breaking power that can sweep slower targets. Finally an offensive pokemon serves as a good pivot. Scarf normal heracross, Banded scolipede, endeavor hazard scolipede, and scizor stand out here for beating flying types and most levitate pokemon.

The first team uses galvantula, and mega pinsir, while the second uses mega heracross and shuckle. I personally feel like having coverage on volcarona is more important for heracross teams than pinsir ones, so I forgo the physically defensive set there. Genesect's first three moves are usually a no-brainer, but it can choose from energyball, iron head, thunderbolt, and even extremespeed (which can poke very dangerous mons when you consider other priority on the team backing it up) Water and ground teams require careful attention, as does scarf victini on psychic.
http://pastebin.com/SCYxNtCG
http://pastebin.com/bppFepUf

 

[ed wins]

I feel like Balance Normal should drop to B rank at this point. Outside of Diggersby, it cant really do much to Flying, and Psychic. Is kind of mandated to carry a bird spam core to fair with Fighting, and Pinsir steamrolls it. Sticky Web Bug for S Rank. Does this really need an explanation?
Are these still being updated? If so:
Trick Room Fairy for A Rank

Fairy is gifted with some of the hardest hitting monsters in the tier, such as Azumarill, Sylveon, and Mega-Gardevoir. While these threats to hit hard, their speed and psychical bulk is incredibly detrimental, and that is something that is easily fixed with Trick Room, as now, these threats are not only bulky, but fast as well. Trick Room is incredible, because once it is set, you have complete control of the battle, and wallbreakers transform into bulky sweepers.

The team is very straight foward. Anti lead with Togekiss/Sylveon, while using Klefki as a pivot and hazard stacker. Togekiss feigns generic Fairy, and lures neutral or resisted hits into a Diancie sweep, where rocks or Trick Room can be set. Once Diance has set Trick Room, have Diancie utilize it, switch out, or explode, and send it the appropriate sweeper depending on the team. Once Trick Room ends, counter play with Azumarill or Klefki, set up a screen, and reset Trick Room. Here, Gardevoir can either use the Trick Room to sweep, or bring back another Trick Room sweeper via Healing Wish.

The great part of the team is that it provides hazard stacking + powerful sweepers, which normally maximizes OHKOs.

I built the team to be anti meta, and I would consider it S Rank if it were not an auto lose to Steel(Azumarill isn't BD and Diancie doesn't have Earth Power). In order of current usage:

Bugs- Easiest Diancie sweep of your life. Azumarill picks up what Diancie couldn't. Scizor has to be handled cautiously, however.

Psychic(Before Shadow Ball Sylveon)- This probably harbors the most threats, but has little room to counter play. Meloeta WILL put in work, but once its down, everything bar Jirachi, Victini, and specially defensive Mew is OHKOd

Flying(RIP Kaiser)- Sylveon, Diance AND Azumarill OHKO most of Flying once Skarmory has fallen(Defensive Togekiss does need rocks damage to land the OHKO).

Fighting- Lol? Breloom without lain hazards is the only issue, as is a non lead Coballion.

Water- Cripple Empoleon, weaken it with Gardevoir, and everything is OHKO by Gardevoir or Sylveon bar Gyarados, Rotom, and Tentacruel.

Steel- Just click X. No competent Steel user will lose to the set up of this team.

Dragon- Lolv2... LO, Iron Head Kyurem can be an issue if I lose Klefki and Azumarill, which has yet to happen

Ground- Lolv3...What walls Sylveon or Gardevoir after Seismitoad/Gastrodon get removed by Azumarill? What walls Azumarill in the first place? Exca and Lando aren't really an issue. 64% loss rate you say? The very few times that I've lost have been to hax or to a final 1 v 1 situation with Azumarill V Chomp, where Azumarill dies to Rough Skin damage.

The Team

While the mons are generic, the team isn't. Sorry, Anttya :/ Maybe you'll notice me for something else a little more generic


Generic Fairy V2.1 (Diancie) @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Trick Room
- Diamond Storm
- Explosion

The set is straight forward. Maximum Attack and HP to allow Diancie to function in Trick Room rather than being sole utility. I went for a psychical set mainly for coverage and power reasons(and to shit on bird users), but because it also boosts the power of Explosion. Explosion is used to secure OHKOs on things like Heracross and Mega-Gardevoir, or to allow a Trick Room sweeper to come in safely. The psychical set is slightly stronger than the special set due to the psychical moves having more base power. Sometimes I think of giving Diancie a Life Orb, as it can secure MANY OHKOs, but Diancie is only one of two Trick Room setters, so I almost always appreciate the extra recovery over an increase of damage.

Anon Twink (Sylveon) (M) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 0 Spe
- Hyper Voice
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Psyshock
- Shadow Ball

Sylveon is actually rather disgusting. With Choice Specs, Sylveon's Hyper Voice hits harder than Mega-Gardevoirs, which is rather impressive. Hidden Power Fire hits things like Forrestress and Ferrothorn, while Psyshock is mainly for Poison types rather than mixed attacking capabilities. I used to have Baton Pass over Shadow Ball, but Shadow Ball hits Victini and Jirachi much harder.

Urine Trouble (Azumarill) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Huge Power
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Play Rough
- Waterfall
- Superpower
- Aqua Jet

A standard Banded Azumarill set innovated with a heat Life Orb. Peoples main form of dealing with Azumarill under Trick Room is to just let things die, or to try to switch things in into a neutral or resisted hit, so the ability to switch moves is much more important than the extra damage from a Choice Band and is completely worth the recoil damage.

Gardevoir-Senpai (Gardevoir) (M) @ Gardevoirite
Ability: Trace
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Hyper Voice
- Focus Blast
- Trick Room
- Healing Wish

My secondary setter and fourth Trick Room sweeper. More often than not, I normally set up Trick Room and use Healing Wish rather than utilizing it myself. There are times where I can use Gardevoir toset up Trick Room two, or even three times in a battle thanks to its great special bulk. Teams are usually either really weak to Azumarill, or really weak to Sylveon, so I abuse those first before restoring their health.

Janitors Fren (Klefki) @ Light Clay
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Foul Play
- Spikes

An incredible asset to the team and one of the main defenses for Poison and Steel types. Klefki functions as a pivot, screens support, and as a hazard stacker. The great part of this team is that it allows Klefki to run both Spikes and Foul Play, which is something that some Fairy teams can only dream of.

'Murica (Togekiss) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Air Slash
- Fire Blast
- Dazzling Gleam
- Trick

Trick Room teams function best with three setters, and my options for a third setter were between Aromatisse, Carbink, Mr. Mime, or Whimsiscott. All of these mons are aweful due to their passiveness or speed, so I opted to go for a Semi Room approach. Togekiss is an invaluable member and one of the best glues that I could have found. Offensive Togekiss can hax through teams like no tomorrow. Fire Blast is there for those pesky Steel types and Ferrothorn, and Dazzling Gleam is a nice STAB. Trick allows me to not rely on hax and instantly cripple walls, or to cripple dangerous CM stackers, such as Clefable on opposing Fairy.