Bug Monorun Team

[Jess]

Hello all!

So, I am a firm believer of rotation in order to advance, but, for all Victory Road, Elite 4 and Postgame, I stuck with only 6 team members, in order to not make the game too easy, and I really bonded with them, so I wanted to show them off! Let me know what you think of my team!

 

1) Tesla, the Galvantula (Shiny Male)

Type: Bug/Electric

Nature: Timid

Ability: Compound Eyes

EV spread: 252 SpA, 252 Sp, 6 HP

Item: Focus Sash/Focus Band/Electric Gem

Moveset:

1. Bug Buzz
2. Thunder/Discharge
3. Hidden Power Ice/Electroweb/Protect
4. Sticky Web

 

2) Introvert, the Crustle (Male)

Type: Bug/Rock

Nature: Jolly

Ability: Sturdy

EV spread: 252 Atk, 252 Sp, 6 HP

Item: Custap Berry/Wide Lens/Weakness Policy

Moveset:

1. X-Scissor
2. Rock Slide/Stone Edge/Rock Blast
3. Earthquake/Nature Power/Counter/Protect
4. Stealth Rock/Shell Smash

 

3) Seppuku, the Accelgor (Female)

Type: Bug

Nature: Timid

Ability: Unburden

EV spread: 252 HP, 252 Sp, 6 SpA

Item: Water Gem/Magical Seed/Elemental Seed/Telluric Seed/Synthetic Seed/Focus Sash

Moveset:

1. Me First/Bug Buzz/Spikes/Toxic Spikes
2. Final Gambit
3. Water Shuriken
4. Protect

 

4) Hephaestus, the Volcarona (Male)

Type: Bug/Fire

Nature: Timid

Ability: Flame Body

EV spread: 252 SpA, 252 Sp, 6 SpD

Item: Wide Lens/Focus Sash/Light Clay

Moveset:

1. Bug Buzz
2. Heat Wave
3. Hurricane/Psychic/Giga Drain/Hidden Power Ice/Light Screen
4. Quiver Dance

 

5) Galadriel, the Heracross (Shiny Female)

Type: Bug/Fighting

Nature: Jolly

Ability: Moxie

EV spread: 252 Atk, 252 Sp, 6 HP

Item: Wide Lens/Focus Sash/Choice Scarf/Choice Band/Heat Rock/Damp Rock

Moveset:

1. Megahorn/Pin Missile
2. Brick Break/Close Combat
3. Rock Blast/Rock Slide/Stone Edge/Earthquake
4. Bullet Seed/Aerial Ace/Counter/Sunny Day/Rain Dance

 

6) Maya, the Beedrill (Shiny Female)

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Type: Bug/Poison

Nature: Jolly

Ability: Swarm/Adaptability (as Mega Beedrill)

EV spread: 252 Atk, 252 Sp, 6 HP

Item: Beedrillite

Moveset:

1. Fell Stinger
2. Poison Jab
3. Drill Run/Protect
4. Knock Off

 

The details of the team:

 

1) Tesla, the Galvantula: I needed some Speed control, so I opted for Galvantula, a fast Sticky Web user that also can use Electroweb for some more immediate effect on flying/levitating mons too. For those annoying Flying/Ground, HP Ice will do some damage too. The STABs are Bug Buzz and Thunder with the Compound Eyes accuracy boost, or Discharge in case of some Double battles, even though I rarely opted for it, since I got zero other mons that resist Electric type moves... Tesla was usually the lead to set up Sticky Web and/or take out some annoying Flying type (e.g. Togekiss).

 

Rating: 7/10. Sticky Web was extremely useful, since many battles would be impossible without it. I considered Tailwind, but there are few Bugs that can use Tailwind, and most are slow (Ahem, Butterfree). Galvantula with Focus Band went clutch quite a few times, but in general it was more of a speed-controlling support than a reliable offensive threat. And that's fine, I love you Tesla (despite your underwhelming damage output)!

 

2) Introvert, the Crustle: When in need of some crazy sweeper that teams without priority won't be able to check, look no further. Crustle was an absolute beast. Shell Smash-Sturdy combo guarantees one double boost in Attack and Speed, giving every opponent trouble. Reliable STAB combination with X-Scissor and Rock Slide guarantee good coverage in singles, but it is in doubles where this guy thrives, capable of taking out Charlotte in 3 turns. I found that Custap Berries can help it set Stealth Rock and also give it an attacking round too, which is highly useful in times that you need Stealth Rock more (e.g. to break opposing Sturdies/Focus Sashes, Gale Wings/Multitype or when the opponent's priority-heavy team will prevent a Crustle sweep). Sturdy-Counter can also check a lot of things (yes, including Pyrous' mountain Garchomp).

 

Rating: 10/10. You need help in a double battle? Crustle is there. You need Stealth Rocks? He will do! You need to kill a physical sweeper you can't touch? He will Counter it to death. I can't count how many times he saved my life! Hats off for Introvert!

 

3) Seppuku, the Accelgor: Here's something I never expected to use! But Seppuku was a damn ace for my team! Unburden in combination with Seeds in the Reborn Fields almost guarantee that it will outspeed everything. And max HP EVs guarantee that either it will OHKO or leave the opponent in low orange/red health, making them a perfect victim for a Mega-Beedrill's Fell Stinger (we will cover this later!). The unburden boost can also be achieved by a Water Gem-boosted Water Shuriken, which gives the team some priority in case it is absolutely necessary to finish off someone. In the next turn, Accelgor can take out another one with Final Gambit. Protect can stall out opposing Trick Room or Screens/Aurora Veil, while the other moveslot is saved for Bug Buzz or... ME FIRST! Me First greatly takes advantage of field-boosted special moves that the opponents many times use in Reborn (e.g. Dragon Pulse in Dragon Den or Boomburst in Holy Field). Just be careful, as opposing priority moves can greatly hurt you and render Final Gambit borderline useless (AVOID DRAGONITE AT ALL COSTS).

 

Rating: 10/10. Ever since I started using it (after Serra's Gym) it proved to be invaluable, even though it was originally meant only to take care of stuff like Dittoceus and PULSE Swalot/Avalugg. But it kept its weight and carried others. Who ever said suicide can lead you nowhere? Oh, did I mention it can also set up Spikes/Toxic Spikes? How much better can you get, Seppuku?!

 

4) Hephaestus, the Volcarona: I men, you can't go wrong with this one... It's a freaking fire moth! And you need a special sweeper in every team! Hephaestus was the special counterpart for Introvert, the Crustle. He was great for Doubles due to Heat Wave, and Quiver Dance is arguably the best special setting up move in the game (shut up Geomancy, you don't exist). Nothing unexpected here, a must for every Bug mono team, and not only that!

 

Rating: 9/10. Yes, 9, not 10. Why? Because it is very fragile. Reborn fields can OHKO it quite a lot, even without super effective moves, and the team I have can't get rid of Stealth Rock. So, you gotta use it wisely, find the tiniest time window to squeeze a Quiver Dance in, weaken the opponent with all entry hazards you can and then send it to sweep. But be careful of Rock type coverage. Everyone knows Rock Slide nowadays. Oh, however, Flame Body burns are useful. Very handy. Especially vs Metagross and stuff Like Hawlucha. 

 

5) Galadriel, the Heracross: Probably the one that falls off the most late game. It is not fast enough to strike first and it is not bulky enough to take the first hit and manage to retaliate hard afterwards. If you give it a Focus Sash, you can dish out one hit, but you won't hit hard enough and you'll probably get outsped next turn. If you give it Choice Scarf it can be menacing, but only if you manage to finish off a low health opponent to get a Moxie boost. Even that way, you will be locked into a not-very-effective move next turn, and this team lacks bulky pivots, so Heracross must be the sacrificial lamb quite often. However, if you get opposing speed limited and weaken them enough, Choice Band Heracross hits like a damn truck! If it gets a Moxie boost too, even not-very-effective moves will put a dent on the opposing team! Just use it to weaken stuff you can't weaken otherwise, and wallbreak. Picking whether a cheap Moxie boost on Heracross or a fell Stinger boost on Mega Beedrill is preferable is of paramount importance when you see a low-health opponent waiting to be finished-off.

 

Rating: 6/10. Great early/mid game coverage in Rock Blast, Bullet Seed, Aerial Ace, Bulldoze. Close Combat and Megahorn are insanely strong to brute force many teams. However, without seriously limiting the opponent's speed, it will get you nowhere. Despite that, it resists Sucker Punch, rendering Dark type strong opposition priority useless. It has access to counter, which can give it Moxie boost even without being able to hit super effectively physical opponents, so it can cause many surprises. Finally, it can set up Sunny Day/Rain Dance, being bulky enough to take one hit most of the times (unless opponent spits fire, flies or plays tricks with your mind). Finally, Heracross was necessary for me, in order to break Light Screen/Reflect and Aurora Veil, rendering Alola-Ninetales leads useless. It was used more for utility, than as a sweeper, because the next one was present...

 

6) Maya, the (Mega) Beedrill: Holy mother of Jesus, how much of a beast can this thing be? It looks dope and it is insanely strong! I also took the liberty to modify its original build and replace X-Scissor with Fell Stinger. Before you come hit me, hear me out. Adaptability powers up Fell Stinger, so, in combination with its insane Attack stat, it will still OHKO almost everything that gets hit super effectively by it, even from full (or from near-full) health. There is more to it, since it will get +3 Attack boost by it! This turns Mega Beedrill from a simple powerful revenge-killer into a sweeping machine, since the opponent isn't allowed to get in low HP. Mega Beedrtill can just sweep Anna's team in 4 turns, provided it gets one Fell Stinger boost. Also, Mega Beedrill provides access to Knock Off (bye bye Life Orbs and stuff), Drill Run (now we can hit poison types, rock types and STEEL TYPES with something other than Volcarona). As for Poison Jab, it takes care of Fairy types, which the rest of the team can't do for its life.

 

Rating: 11/10. Seriously. Just try it. Late game sweeps are fun. It takes some effort to set them up, but when it works out, it's super-rewarding. Maya, you were a young worker bee in the TV-show, but in my mind you'll always be a queen!

 

CONCLUSION:

 

I HOPE YOU FOUND MY GUIDE USEFUL! Shouting too much cause of being excited.

I also hope it helps you in terms of Bug types, they are underrated, strong and versatile!

 

Take care and have fun people!

 

[Ghostea]

Absolutely love this team! Bug is one of my favorite types (and is severely underrated) so I always appreciate seeing teams like this :)

[DemICE]

huh, mono-6 bug team. neat !
that's like a challenge within a challenge. It's pretty interesting because you need to choose 6 pokemon of the same type that can offer as much role compression as possible. 
Support heracross was a pleasant surprise. Fun fact, did you know (probably yes) scizor has access to light screen and also sunny/rain, brick break and counter which herac was used for? and it can offer strong priority and more resistances to boot. of course replacing herac for this would have broken the 6-mon challenge...

[Jess]

On 2/7/2023 at 8:32 PM, DemICE said:

huh, mono-6 bug team. neat !
that's like a challenge within a challenge. It's pretty interesting because you need to choose 6 pokemon of the same type that can offer as much role compression as possible. 
Support heracross was a pleasant surprise. Fun fact, did you know (probably yes) scizor has access to light screen and also sunny/rain, brick break and counter which herac was used for? and it can offer strong priority and more resistances to boot. of course replacing herac for this would have broken the 6-mon challenge...

Huh, I had no idea Scizor could do all these things! Yes, the team would be quite better with a swords dance/bullet punch/light screen/weather controlling Scizor,  but there is a tiny problem... I am not a huge fan of it... I consider bulky araquanid as a replacement for heracross. In fact I have a specially bulky one, with Wide Guard, Reflect, Liquidation and Aqua Ring/Leech Life. I occasionally run Toxic on it too and it has come in handy plenty of times with Mirror Coat. I love this one!