Valkyria Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 For those who aren't familiar, the Monotype tier has the following rules: - ALL pokemon on the team must share a type. So-called "wild cards" are not allowed. - For the PO server's Monotype Ladder: Dream World abilities are not allowed. Although Reborn doesn't have an official Monotype ladder, I've still had many intense battles with other monotype enthusiasts on the server. In a tier such as this, trainers occasionally encounter matchups that they simply cannot win, regardless of how talented they are. Normal vs Fighting, Fighting vs Psychic, Psychic vs Dark. While my monoice team is no exception, it does fare reasonably well against its weaknesses, most notably fighting. The Frigid Menace peaked at #2 on PO's Monotype Ladder with a rating of 1447. Competitively, it has been my most successful. Boreas (Abomasnow) (M) @ Focus Sash Trait: Snow Warning EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 Spd Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk) - Blizzard - Giga Drain - Focus Blast - Protect On a ladder where his archnemesis Ninetales doesn't have Drought, and Politoed doesn't have Drizzle, Abomasnow is the ideal lead for a monoice team. Against slower leads, he can break sashes with Protect and possibly go for the OHKO with a 100% accurate STAB Blizzard keeping his own sash unbroken. Hippowdown (hippopotas too) and Tyranitar are the only two other pokemon that can set up permaweather. Both are outsped by Abomasnow, and are hit hard with STAB Giga Drain or 4x super-effective Focus Blast, respectively. Poseidon (Cloyster) (M) @ Leftovers Trait: Skill Link EVs: 248 HP / 84 Atk / 176 Def Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk) - Rapid Spin - Icicle Spear - Toxic Spikes - Ice Shard Cloyster often functions as an offensive pokemon, but his collosal defence also makes him a reliable spinner. As monoice is weak to Steal Rock, Cloyster is essential to my team. No only does he allow teammates such as Froslass and Mamoswine to keep their sashes, but he can also set up two layers of Toxic Spikes. As monotype teams are by definition less diverse than standard teams, very rarely will the opponent be able to remove them. In the hundreds of monotype battles I've fought, I've never once been paired against a monopoison in a ranked match. In conjunction with Stallrein, 2x Toxic Spikes is a deadly, and often unexpected weapon. Khione (Froslass) (F) @ Focus Sash Trait: Snow Cloak EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk) - Hail - Blizzard - Hidden Power [Fire] - Destiny Bond This speedy ghost blocks rapid spins and plays superhero against monofighting teams. With the combination of high speed, focus sash and destiny bond, Froslass can be counted on to take out multiple opponents. With Snow Cloak, opponents also have a 1 in 5 chance of missing every time. Antaeus (Mamoswine) (M) @ Focus Sash Trait: Snow Cloak EVs: 6 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk) - Stealth Rock - Ice Shard - Endeavor - Earthquake The physical attacker of my team, Mamoswine shares Froslass' Snow Cloak ability, making him equally dangerous, if not more. Against a threatening, faster opponent, he uses Endeavor at full HP, bringing the opponent to 1, who then gets finished off by Hail. Against a slower, threatening opponent, he can set up Stealth Rock, take a hit, and then Endeavor. Against non-threatening opponents, he can set up Stealth Rock, and lash out with STAB Earthquake and priority Ice Shard. Oceanus (Walrein) (M) @ Leftovers Trait: Ice Body EVs: 232 HP / 252 Def / 24 SDef Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk) - Protect - Substitute - Surf - Roar Stallrein, but with Surf instead of Blizzard, and Roar instead of Toxic. I turn to him every time Cloyster sets up 2 layers of Toxic Spikes. Very few moves can OHKO him, and he's almost always able to set up a substitute. Once he does, he can Protect to restore HP twice per turn with Ice Body and Leftovers. Against faster opponents, he uses Substitute even if he already has one up. Against slower opponents, he can hit with STAB Surf and then set up a sub against next turn. In both cases, he just waits until the toxic poison gets exponentially higher every turn. Ourea (Kyurem) @ Choice Scarf Trait: Pressure EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk) - Glaciate - Draco Meteor - Focus Blast - Blizzard In terms of raw strength, Kyurem is the strongest on my team. He also happens to be the fastest. Scarfed users are much more viable on the monotype tier than standard tiers, as a super effective against one of your opponent's pokemon tends to be super effective against the rest of them as well (they need to share a type, remember?). He's usually the endgame sweeper, when Hail damage, Stealth Rock damage and Toxic Spikes damage have taken their toll. With STAB Blizzard and Draco Meteor backing a mammoth 130 base SpA, he can obliterate weakened teams. As previously mentioned, this team deals with monofighting pretty well. The two teams that give it the most trouble are monosteel and monobug, with special mention going out to Scizor and Volcarona. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zen Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 How would you fare against a generic ground monotype? True, you have the type advantage, but hippowdon usually has lower speed than abomasnow, which ensures that sand goes up instead of hail. Couple that with hippowdon's SR, and things can get tricky. Yes, you could switch in cloyster, but most hippowdon users would either Roar your cloyster back out, or swap in a nidoking - incidentally, a ground-type that can also vanish your TSpikes and at the same time kill abomasnow quite easily (Flamethrower/Sludge Bomb). Or a donphan could Spin away the hazards. There's also the issue of dugtrio with its Arena Trap and high speed, along with other seemingly unlikely candidates such as golurk, who have access to some nasty moves and also speed boosts. I could also raise the merits of a rock monotype, but that's a little on the unfair side of critique since it has the type-trump on you. However, the rock-types do have an edge despite their low speed - Stockpile cradily with Toxic could actually do some nasty damage to you if the rocks keep their sand up. But against opponents without their own weather... I'd say this team could do well. Barring of course those lousy heatran/genesect that seem to be saturating the tiers nowadays. Even scizor isn't as annoying as them, frankly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 Too much Sash Entry hazards'll destroy them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewolf Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 Its a really good ice and its very well put together. Nice job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zen Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 Too much Sash I just noticed this, aha XD No need to talk about hazards, spending one turn in sand would be painful Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkyria Posted May 23, 2012 Author Share Posted May 23, 2012 (edited) No way I'll ever lose to a monoground. I won't switch out against a Hippowdon lead simply because a maxed SpA Abomasnow can suck it dry with STAB Giga Drain, and resists his STAB Earthquake. The type difference for the opponent is insurmountable. Also, Froslass is quick and also know hail. Edited May 23, 2012 by Valkyria Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zen Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 No way I'll ever lose to a monoground. I won't switch out against a Hippowdon lead simply because a maxed SpA Abomasnow can suck it dry with STAB Giga Drain, and resists his STAB Earthquake. The type difference for the opponent is insurmountable. Also, Froslass is quick and also know hail. You could still lose to a ground monotype if you're not careful - some ground players would happily sacrifice hippowdon to feint against you (weird, but it does happen - and I've lost to a ground monotype that way before). Froslass having manual Hail is good, but she's still vulnerable to SR (there goes the Sash). So really, it'll almost be a question of whether you choose to swap abomasnow out for cloyster/froslass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewolf Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 I think I agree with Zen on that note. Ground and Ghost Monos have been known to sacrifice in order to feint there opponent and throw them of balance. So as Zen said, be careful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkyria Posted May 23, 2012 Author Share Posted May 23, 2012 (edited) If they sacrifice Hippowdon, they're dead. Switch back in abomasnow to reinstate permanent hail, and sweep with 100% accurate, super effective, STAB Blizzards, available on 3 different pokemon. Monoground lacks special attackers, meaning cloyster can easily tank a hit and spin away hazards. Froslass can set up Hail before she takes sandstorm damage. Monoground doesn't even come close to being a threat. Obviously the only way to settle this is through a battle. You guys can make a monoground specifically to beat my monoice. In fact, you have access to absolutely every aspect of my team, down to the EV investments. Challenge me the next time you see me online. I'm always looking forward to good monotype battle. Edited May 23, 2012 by Valkyria Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewolf Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 Well, it does seem like you have everything covered. If I do see you expect a challenge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phazer Posted May 26, 2012 Share Posted May 26, 2012 If they sacrifice Hippowdon, they're dead. Switch back in abomasnow to reinstate permanent hail, and sweep with 100% accurate, super effective, STAB Blizzards, available on 3 different pokemon. Monoground lacks special attackers, meaning cloyster can easily tank a hit and spin away hazards. Froslass can set up Hail before she takes sandstorm damage. Monoground doesn't even come close to being a threat. Obviously the only way to settle this is through a battle. You guys can make a monoground specifically to beat my monoice. In fact, you have access to absolutely every aspect of my team, down to the EV investments. Challenge me the next time you see me online. I'm always looking forward to good monotype battle. Challenge accepted. Ground types are too strong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zen Posted May 26, 2012 Share Posted May 26, 2012 If I ever do run into you online, then, some experimentation would be in order And what's this about the ground monotype lacking special attackers? Nidoking, nidoqueen, claydol, torterra, gastrodon, or even stunfisk would beg to disagree with you. And if it's a question of reliable special attackers, those mentioned above usually do reasonably well, with the possible exception of stunfisk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chasedawg98 Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 Very well put together . Love the abomasnow set, and the support set on cloyster is pretty cool and unique. And i love seeing kyurem in an RMT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phazer Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 Beat this with my Mono bug. Made that team in like 2 minutes for a friend. ._. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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