Monothreat Resource Guide

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Monothreat: (From the OM page on the Monotype Website)
Easily one of the most recognizable tournament types to have been recently developed in the room - Monothreat requires every player to use the same type team as declared by the tournament host. For example: If the host says that the tournament is “Mono Water Only” or “Monothreat Water” that means participants may only enter with a water monotype team. The overall idea is to outplay your own type-matchup.

Keep in mind these are not the only Pokemon ever used in the Monthreat type you are interested in. These are just the most commonly used pokemon people tend to choose when building their teams. For this reason, we have explained why people chose those pokemon specifically and what sets people normally give them. Just because one pokemon like Volcanion on Fire Monothreat or Hawlucha on Fighting Monothreat is on every team, does not mean we are going to ban it because you do not know how to deal with that threat. That is where this guide comes in handy!​


Monothreat Competitions:

Unlike the Monothreat Events in the past which were known to do well, most notably Monothreat Monthly, we feel the performance of many individuals will shine in different categories.
Monothreat Monthly is based around who has the most consistent win rates across all types. Although that is how MPL Monothreat players were chosen, it did not show the complete package to which they needed to perform with such pressures like team play and even no teambuilding time limits. As such, Ticken, Average Fella, and Misaka Mikoto have chosen different events to test players in different areas of Monothreat in order to see which user has the most rounded Monothreat knowledge. Each event will have the span or a month from beginning to end. Every Monothreat event will be every other month meaning one month we do an event, the next month no event and it continues in the same pattern.​
Type Expert - September
Partner Tourney on Challonge - TBA


~Monothreat Tournaments~
The Monotype Room on the main PS server has many Monothreat Tournaments throughout the day whether it be at 4PM pacific or 2AM pacific. Every Monothreat Tournament type gets randomly selected by the host or if this Guide needs more replays for a particular type. These Tournaments typically have about 40 entrants depending on the type and the time in which they are registering users.
* Most Common Room Auth to start a Monothreat Tournament: Misaka Mikoto *
Current Event:
Type Expert
Type Expert is the introduction of the Monothreat Monthly transferring from most side servers to the main server for recognition into MPL. Unlike the Monothreat Monthly, where there were three consequent Monothreat Tournaments, there will be 1 Monothreat Tournament on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, respectively for 6 weeks within the newly acquired Monotype Events Room! The Monothreat Tournaments will start ~5PM EST after the OM Tournament has finished. Each participant will have the whole week leading up to the Monothreat to make and perfect their teams. There will be not Team Scouting but Team Switching and Team Editing are allowed.
First Place - 5 points / Second Place - 3 points / Third Places - 1 Point each
~Monothreat Type Schedule and Player Score Sheet~
* Tournament Organizers: Misaka Mikoto and Ticktick (Ticken) *

~Honorable Mentions~
Main Leader:

Ticktick


Co Leader:
Misaka Mikoto



Secondary Leaders:
Zukushiku

average fella

(Retired)
Anttya
(Retired)

A special thank you to Clearly czim and EricSaysHi for contributing to the guide as well.​
 
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Below are a list of viable Pokemon and how they're used in Monothreats:

- Forretress will be the main pokemon that will be used by everyone to check Mega Pinsir. The reason it is a check rather than a counter is because after a few hits or even 1 Swords Dance, Mega Pinsir leaves a decent sized dent on Forretress even if it is max HP and max Defense. It does not defeat Mega Pinsir in 1 shot with Rock Slide but it puts it in range of a possible Bullet Punch or Quick Attack from Scizor which forces the Mega Pinsir to go for it's own Quick Attack. Forretress can also provide initiative with the Volt Switch (or set you back if they set up hazards when you use the Volt Switch). Another good set that can be used on Forretress could be the Custap Berry because there are no pokemon that can OHKO it as there are no Ability avoiding abusers like Mold Breaker, and can get up last minute Stealth Rocks or even use Explosion. It allows for Forretress to 1v1 Volcarona as it can beat it in 2 Rock Slides and always go for two attacks as long as Forretress can be on the field at 100%.
- Scizor can use so many different sets. SD BP, Natural Gift [Rock], etc... If used late game, Scizor can efficiently sweep. Most Scizors carry Aerial Ace for Volcarona because it's main priority move is resisted by Volcarona; this is if you are using the SD variant. If you use the Natural gift one, the move is a one time use against either Volcarona or Mega Pinsir but Acrobatics can hurt both a lot too once your berry has been used. Besides an offensively invested Scizor, you could also use a more defensive one with Defog and Roost. A Natural Gift [Rock] from a non invested Scizor still defeats both a Mega Pinsir and a Volcarona which helps the viability. Most Scizors look one dimensional and thus means you probably know what the opponent is going to predict. Examples of this is within the Replay "Ticken vs KGBeast".
- Armaldo is the main hazard controller for Bug Monothreat. Depending on the situation, it can take 1 Return / Frustration and in return you can defeat the Mega Pinsir in 1 shot if it hits a Stone Edge or Rock Blast. Not only can it take a hit from Mega Pinsir but if it is wearing an Assault Vest you can use Armaldo to challenge Volcarona 1v1. The only down side to using Assault Vest Armaldo is you lose a reliable Stealth Rock user. Yes Forretress is also a reliable Stealth Rock user but you really want more than 1 so that the Stealth Rocks benefit you more than hinders you in the long run. Non Stealth Rock Armaldo's can be quite valuable too as it can defeat almost every pokemon with Attack invested Rock type moves. Normally Armaldo's carry Aqua Jet as well so that it has priority if a move does not quite defeat the foe like a Focus Sash Volcarona. Aqua Jet is normally on an Assault Vest Armaldo because you can switch moves and not get stuck with that move if you were Choice Banded. Some physical pokemon such as Armaldo tend to get walled by Forretress. As such, some Armaldo's use HP Fire which can 2HKO most Forretress variants as they normally are intended to challenge Mega Pinsir, not HP Fire Armaldo.
- Yanmega is such an under rated threat. It may force possible 50-50's with a +1 Volcarona or lose to priority moves like Quick Attack, Feint, or Bullet Punch but we all know Air Slash can flinch walls like Armaldo to prevent the hazards from being removed. If played correctly and all the priority on the other teams is gone, Yanmega has a big chance to sweep the opposing team with or without rocks. (Rocks are always preferred as it can break potential sashes). There are not too many sets a Yanmega can use but some people may use Tailwind to help speed up its teammates once the Yanmega has done its job. Most pokemon are Physically defensive so that they do not lose to Mega Pinsir which means Yanmega can do more damage than usual as their Special Defense will be lacking. As shown in the Replay "Ticken vs. Average Fella", a late game Yanmega can really save a game from either a win or a loss.
- Scarf or Quiver, both are good. Volcarona is the only Fire-Bug type in the game so far which makes it used as much as Mega Pinsir. Because of it's ability, Flame Body, it can help you from possible sweeps against a Mega Pinsir, Scizor, etc.. as long as it activates. This is also a great check for Scizor because it resists the priority it can dish out and the possible Flame Body just like previously stated. Most Volcarona's need to be played at the right time because Assault Vest Rock-Bug types help tremendously to defeat this thing to prevent a sweep since Volcarona is never ran with a Physical moveset. Scarf Volcarona only has three main moves that might be used: Fiery Dance, HP Rock, and Hurricane. A Quiver Volcarona is known to run a Roost set, Offensive set, or even a more bulky support with Will-o-wisp.
- Vivillon is a rather underrated threat as well. Many would expect to easily take down Vivillon with no problem; however, Vivillon can hold its own pretty decently in Monothreat despite having frail bulk. Usually, Vivillon would go for Sleep Powder and set up Quiver Dance while the foe sleeps, giving it a free turn to set up. Most of the Pokemon don't want to take a mighty Hurricane. But in some cases Vivillon likes to also run Hidden Power Fire due to Scizor and Forretress or Hidden Power Rock because of Volcarona and Mega Pinsir.
- The one and only Mega Pinsir. As we all know, Mega Pinsir is the biggest threat in Bug Monothreat. It gets access to Me First, Feint, Quick Attack, and Return / Frustration. Because Mega Pinsir is such a big threat, most of the pokemon on every opposing team will be there to check it such as Armaldo, Forretress, Crustle, Durant, etc... If you have Stealth Rock up, it is going to be very difficult for the opponent to do anything at all to this monster.

Replays:
For extra replays of Bug Monothreat, search for replays from the username "Threat Bug"
1. Ticken vs Average Fella
2. Ticken vs KGBeast
3. Average Fella vs Swoon Loon
~ Bug Monothreat Analysis brought to you by Ticktick ~​
- Due to Sandstorm, Tyranitar is an excellent check to Specially invested Hydreigon along with it's excellent support moves such as Stealth Rock, Thunder Wave, and Taunt. However, its 4x weakness to Fighting hinders it a lot, forcing it to run a Chople Berry / Focus Sash to alleviate that weakness. Don’t let that discourage you though, since it’s still a great check to many Pokemon in the tier such as Mega Sableye (Dragon Tail), and Mandibuzz. It has surprise value as well, since a Sub Dragon Dance set is viable. Common moves associated with the Substitute+Dragon Dance set are Rock Slide and Brick Break so that you have a better match up vs Mega Sableye as Rock Slide has a reasonably high flinching chance compared to the critical hit chance on Stone Edge. Brick Break is used so that you do not lower your Attack and Defense stats by using a move such as Superpower instead. Tyranitar is one of three viable pokemon that can use Stealth Rock and hazards damage Pokemon a lot as there are many walls and double switching going on.
- One of the biggest threats in Dark Monothreat. The tier is centralized around this pokemon, and for good reason. A high 115 base speed, and a Swords Dance + Magic Bounce combo makes it a huge threat. Its move pool gives it moves such as Play Rough, Superpower and even Megahorn so it can hit almost every pokemon super effectively. However, it has terrible defenses, and no recovery so it gets worn down fairly easily, and it’s slow before mega evolving so it’s forced to run Protect. Another down side to Mega Absol is that it is basically a one trick pony in a sense that it's move pool does not allow it to do another set effectively. The SD variant is the only one still seen in Dark Monothreat. Some pokemon that can wall this pretty well are Skuntank and Drapion thanks to their dual typing making all three possible move types neutral.
- One of Dark’s switch ins to physical attackers such as Mega Absol or Pangoro. Its Poison typing is a godsend, making it neutral to common Fighting and Fairy moves. Skuntank’s main niche is Aftermatch, which in tandem with a Rocky Helmet is able to do a ton of passive damage to Physical attackers such as Pangoro and Mega Absol. It’s able to do decent damage as well, with Play Rough, and threaten out Mega Sableye with Poison Jab. Finally, it can double up as a Defogger and a Taunter when you do not want the hazards to be Defogged away usually by Mandibuzz. Remember to run enough speed to out speed max speed Pangoro so you can revenge kill it with Play Rough. Although Skuntank does not have the longest lifespan thanks to hazards and no recovery, it still does a great job walling out physical threats.
- Dark’s second switch in to physical attackers. Although it doesn’t have Skuntank’s ability to whittle down physical attackers and Defog, Drapion has more bulk and speed, and gets a very underrated move in Dark Monothreats: Toxic Spikes. Speedy Taunt allows Drapion to keep hazards up as well, and Poison Jab threatens out bulky walls, allowing you to set up spikes. Drapion has offensive pressure as well, if you decide to run Swords Dance. Drapion are also known to run a Rocky Helmet to whittle down threats like Mega Absol. As such, many people pick either Drapion or Skuntank but not both; both can be a viable option too.
- With its immense bulk and neutrality to Fighting, Mandibuzz makes an excellent wall. Depending on how you EV it, it can even sponge up special attacks fairly well. Mandibuzz is one of the better options to come in against a Hydreigon because of the mixed bulk it has. Mandibuzz supports the team by being a pivot,using U-Turn for momentum, phasing out threats, with Whirlwind, or even try and Toxic stall with Iron Defense. It can also play mindgames as shown in the MPL, Ticken vs xShiba, where it can use Whirlwind + Toxic Spikes from Drapion to whittle down Defensive or Offensive threats as long as they are touching the ground. One other niche that it has the potential to do is bring the momentum back to your side with U-Turn or Taunt. Both are good as they make the opponent re think their next play and gives you more options.
- Dark monothreat’s most common Choice Scarf user. Draco Meteor hits hard with no safe switch ins outside of Umbreon and possibly Mandibuzz. U-turn allows it to gain momentum and kill weakened threats, and it can even go mixed with Superpower, and Taunt. The mixed set is a great stall breaker as Taunt forces them to attack rather than health themselves. Hydreigon can't really switch in on many moves because most Pokemon either have a Fairy or Fighting move that will be used most turns where as Hydreigon has decent defenses. Most often Hydreigon users are looking for the U-Turn so you can usually punish that with your Rocky Helmet users or by having Stealth Rock set up already. The mixed set with Taunt+Roost will be the most annoying set you deal with but Mega Absol can usually beat it as long as you do not miss.
- Although it may be unviable in regular Monotype, Pangoro shines in Dark Monothreats. Its ability Scrappy allows it to hit Sableye super effectively with Fighting STAB. Furthermore, it has a chance of beating its only counter Mandibuzz 1v1 with Hammer Arm or you can just Parting Shot out to the appropriate counter. Unfortunately, it’s slow but it does its job as a wall breaker quite well. Do not challenge a Mega Absol if you choose to use a Choice Scarf Pangoro because Mega Absol naturally still out speeds and can KO with a single Play Rough.
- With its above average bulk and access to boosting moves like Bulk Up or Dragon Dance make it a huge threat. Drain Punch keeps it harder to deal with as it continuously regains health lost and Rest + Shed Skin is an excellent combination. You must be prepared to beat it or else you’ll end up being swept. Whirlwind Mandibuzz is a good option, and hitting it with Fairy / Fighting moves before it sets up is a good option as well. Even if Scrafty beats one of your Pokemon in the process, it is worth it so you do not get flat out swept. Although Scrafty and Pangoro have the same speed stat and typing, their other stats are almost inverted from one another.
- Its 170 base Special Attack and access to moves such as Nasty Plot, Focus Blast, and Signal Beam makes Hoopa-U a fearsome wall breaker. It breaks past common walls such as Mandibuzz, Umbreon, and Sableye while doing hefty damage to incoming switch ins. However, its rather low speed and 4x weakness to Bug does make it more susceptible to U-turn than any other pokemon in Dark Monothreat. The most common set is Substitute with a mixed move set so that it can beat a variety of threats. That most common item is Life Orb as it can easily regain it's health back by using Drain Punch. Choice Scarf Hoopa is also a possibility but it does not typically do as much since it will be locked into one type and there are pokemon that can take it on from there.
- Crawdaunt is usually either underrated or overrated in a Dark Monothreat Tourney. People use it because of the unusually high Attack stat and access to priority, Swords Dance/Dragon Dance, and a Super Effective move. The main items that Crawdaunt typically see are Life Orb and Focus Sash. The Life Orb set does not always have Swords Dance but it is arguably the better set. The main pokemon that beat it are Hydreigon, Mandibuzz, and one of the defensive Poison-Dark types. The Focus Sash variant is there to prevent a sweep as long as there are no hazards to break the Focus Sash. Although there are some other variables that may break the Focus Sash like Sandstorm from Tyranitar or Rocky Helmet physical walls, it is still one of the most used items in Dark Monothreat for a Crawdaunt.
- Krookodile is the second of three potential Stealth Rock users to Tyranitar and Bisharp. Krookodile is normally ran as either a Defensive user with Stealth Rock or a fast Taunter with Stealth Rock. Krookodile will almost always be the leading pokemon so they can break potential Focus Sashes and damage walls as early as they can. Most often the other moves are Taunt, Earthquake, and either Superpower or Low Sweep. Krookodile does not have many options. The main threat to it is Crawdaunt as it has the Adaptability dual water moves even after the Intimidate. If you wanted to use a different move to punish Mandibuzz, use Toxic as you can just spam Stealth Rock after and then you keep whittling down Mandibuzz and then force it to take Stealth Rock damage after it resets the Toxic damage.
- A staple on Stall teams. Its immense Special Defense allows to effectively check most Hydreigons while supporting its team with Heal Bell and Wish. A more offensive route would be Curse, as it lets you boost both your Offense and Defense scaring the opponent to think it is Baton Pass Umbreon instead of the Wish + Protect set they might have been more focused on. Always be careful while using Umbreon as it baits in Choice Banded Pangoro.

Replays:
For extra replays of Dark Monothreat, search for replays from the username "Threat Dark"
1. Ticken vs xShiba (MPL)
~ Dark Monothreat Analysis brought to you by Anttya and Ticktick ~
- The premier Haban Berry user and by many standards one of the absolutely required pokemon on Monothreat Dragon. This beast is capable of stomaching literally every Dragon-type move if you manage to keep rocks off (and stomaching virtually every dragon move that you're likely to come across in a serious game even with rocks) (252 SpA Choice Specs Latios Draco Meteor vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Haban Berry Kyurem-B: 348-409 (76.6 - 90%) -- guaranteed 2HKO). That is if the move is not a crit. The reason this is often used over other options is that its secondary Ice typing gives it a neutrality to Ice Beam, unlike Garchomp, basically meaning "you survive any one hit your opponent has for you, and you kill it". Just watch out for a possible Unnerve Haxorus as that will 0HKO your Kyurem-B with Outrage.
- This is Monothreat Dragon in a nutshell. You must use scarf Noivern if you expect to win games without relying on Speed ties. Nothing outspeeds this beast, not even Agility Dragonite. Quite often games are determined on who can weaken the other person's team and clean with Scarf Noivern. Most of the reason people run Haban Berries is because you often aren't confident you win the Scarf Noivern speed tie. If you feel threatened, save Noivern for later and use the Tailwind move to help other pokemon out speed if Noivern can't do the job like against a Goodra. If you do decide to use Tailwind, Kyurem-B will be the best partner with Noivern.
- The third pokemon that's really required for a Dragon Monothreat team isn't really a specific pokemon, but a specific role. The role of suicide lead! Druddigon is slower than Garchomp, but has Glare as well as the ability to fire off a moderately powerful Sucker Punch when it's about to die. I personally prefer using this as a suicide lead to Garchomp, but Garchomp vs. Druddigon is more of personal preference than anything. Use a Focus sash if you don't think that they'll use Dual Chop Garchomp or use a Haban berry if you think they will. Rough Skin can also help break potential sashes on a physical pokemon like a lead Garchomp or break the Multiscale of Dragonite. This often leads to Druddigon picking up a kill as Glare will allow you to out speed them the following turn.
- This is the other option for a suicide lead, having more speed, more attack, and even Dual Chop to beat Sash Druddigon 1v1 in lead positions. If you choose to use Druddigon as your lead, I would personally use Garchomp as a scarfer, to out speed +1 Dragonite as well as out speeding Scarf Kyurem-B and Scarf Haxorus. Outside of Noivern and the Lati@s, Garchomp is the next fastest pokemon based solely on the base speed stat as other factors may differ like Outraging a Gooey Goodra or going against a Tailwind pokemon. Nonetheless, Scarf Garchomp really only needs Outrage or even Stealth Rocks if you really want to be that person.
- The more offensive Lati twin, most people use Scarf Latios as a fantastic cleaner as it can learn both Dragon moves and Ice Beam if Haban Berries are scaring you. He can also provide clutch Choice Scarf Defogs should you choose to use more hazard-weak pokemon like Dragonite. It's also the premier pokemon for fast Ice Beams, which is very useful for shitting on Haban users once Kyurem-B is weakened or dead. Another option for Latios as it is more offensive is a Haban Berry dragon Dance set which means you get an attack boost as well as a speed boost similar to Choice Scarf speed to still win potential speed ties vs other Latios. It is not used as often because it can only use Dragon Claw or Outrage for super effective attacks and there is an abundance of Haban Berries.
- The more defensive Lati twin, people normally use this over Goodra as it has access to Defog. Keep in mind that Haban Berry Kyurem-B with Ice Beam will win with Ice Beam, also it can't reliably switch in on Latios due to Ice Beam getting past Haban Berries. Defensive Latias sets normally run a Haban Berry itself either to get off a Defog to preserve Focus Sashes or Dragonite's Multiscale, or to run a T-Wave Tailwind support set. The support set is not used as often because of the lack of suicide moves to take advantage of the turns outside of memento. Scarf Latias is still tied for the second fastest in Dragon Monothreat and can usually leave a Tailwind for a late game sweeper or even sweep itself. This is more likely to take a Dragon Pulse from a Scarf Noivern than a Latios will.
- Welcome to your one-stop shop for revenge killing with none of that speed tie garbage to go through! Multiscale Outrages and Extreme Speed's are your best friend when you want to revenge pesky Scarf Noiverns, or more often, you Extreme Speed their Dragonite switch in and wear it down for your own Scarf Noivern to clean. Choice Band Dragonite cleanly defeats Multiscale Dragonites and can leave a huge dent even to a Haban Berry Kyurem-B if need be. Alongside Choice Band Dragonite there is also the Agility Weakness Policy set that is fairly common to sweep. The only downside this set is that it does not out speed Choice Scarf Noivern and in order to get the Weakness Policy to activate the Multiscale must have been broken prior. Nonetheless, Dragonite is a very offensive threat that one must not over look due to its speed stat.
- The premier "sac this for momentum" pokemon. Goodra is an okay pokemon to use thanks almost entirely to its Gooey ability and fairly high special bulk. These factors allow it to use a Haban Berry effectively in order to punish moves like Outrage as well as locking yourself into Draco Meteor if they are choice locked. As Goodra is one of the best pokemon to sac, it helps guarantee you out speed to gain back the munch needed momentum. Although Goodra has all these benefits associated with it, it is rarely one of the best options for a team, although sometimes it can definitely come in clutch. You can also use this pokemon to waste a potential Haban Berry, like Kyurem-B, by using Dragon Tail and forcing them to take extra Stealth Rock damage if they were not Defogged away already.
- Last but not least, Haxorus. Haxorus is the only pokemon that can avoid any Haban Berries thrown its way and still out speed most pokemon like Kyurem-B. Holding a Haban Berry itself, it can also beat some scarf pokemon with higher base speeds like Garchomp leaving the matchup 6-4 on some occasions. Although it is not normally on Dragon Monothreat teams, it is definitely one pokemon to look out for!

*Most other pokemon are too slow to have a niche in Monothreat Dragon. We've seen Swift Swim Kingdra setups in the past but it tends to struggle against Haban Berry sets. Alternate strategies tend to have that happen to them.*​

Replays:
For extra replays of Dragon Monothreat, search for replays from the username "Threat Dragon"
1. Ticken vs Sakis
2. Average Fella vs MegCham
3. Ticken vs Average Fella (R1) ; Ticken vs Average Fella (R2) ; Ticken vs Average Fella (R3)
~ Dragon Monothreat Analysis brought to you by Ticktick , average fella, and Anttya ~
- This is Zapdos or rather Stalldos. The only sets Zapdos is known to run in Electric is Support with Defog, Baton Pass, or the Stalldos set with Toxic, Sub, Roost. Because of Zapdos' rather high base speed at 100, it can easily outstall pokemon with less speed like Mega Ampharos, Rotom, etc... while spamming moves like Roost and Substitute for the Toxic to take effect. Not only that but it has access to the move "Roar" which shuffles out a possible Calm Mind Raikou and/or other set up sweepers like Dragon Tail Eelektross or Nasty Plot Thundurus. Some main problem pokemon for Zapdos include Rest pokemon, Heal Bell pokemon, and even another speed crept Zapdos. those pokemon can outstall Zapdos' only way to win which is Toxic. If that happens, try to spam Roar until you can move the momentum back to your team. There was a set used once where Zapdos used Baton Pass with Charge Beam and/or Charge to pass to a Cotton Guard Mega Ampharos. That set is really bad in the current meta because there are a ton of pokemon that run shuffling moves like Roar Raikou, Dragon Tail Eelektross, and even other Zapdos.
- Mega Ampharos is often ran two different ways in the current meta; Support (Heal Bell + Rest) or set up (Cotton Guard or Agility). Of the two sets the support one is most commonly used because of the amount of pokemon Mega Ampharos can beat just because of the bulk it consists of and the unique typing. The list includes Zapdos, all rotom forms but regular and Frost, Lanturn, and Magnezone to name a few. The only negative to this set is it can take 1 hit from almost any pokemon but it can not one shot most pokemon either. The Cotton Guard set makes it so that it can survive a longer time than it would against threats like Electivire, Luxray, or Knock Off Eelektross. The Agility set is usually paired with Special Attack EV's which helps it defeat more pokemon that are more defensive options as previously stated. After an Agility, the main pokemon that beat prevent the sweep are Specially Defensive Eelektross and Stalldos. Just be careful to mega evolve Ampharos as a regular Ampharos has a higher base speed than it does if it was the mega version.
- Raikou is known to run one set and one set only in Electric Monothreat. Although it is the same set that is ran everytime that I, Ticken, has witnessed, there have been a few moves switched for another every once in a while. The Calm Mind set with 1 move + Roar has been the new commonly run set for Raikou as of the MPL to stop other Calm Mind Raikou's alongside you or Dragon Tail Eelektross making it null and void. The previous set replaced Roar to have an extra unneeded move slot which was usually Hidden Power Ground to hit other pokemon Super Effectively but that just made Raikou super weak to Specially Defensive Zapdos and Eelektross.
-Not as used as the others, Luxray can tear through a Balanced or Defensive built team almost with ease. Most defensive types of teams usually run some sort of status move which activates Luxray's ability Guts and helps Facade. The regular moves is usually 4 attacks with a Choice Band to do as much damage possible. Most of the time if a Luxray is in use it will have Facade, maybe one or two of the Fang's, and maybe Crunch or Superpower.
-Electivire's movepool is diverse enough that it basially has a Super Effective move against all the pokemon in Electric besides Rotom and Rotom-W (without the use of Natural Gift). Oh, did I say Natural Gift? I have been trying to use Liechi Berry 4 Attack Electivire because it does not only have a chance to raise the Attack by 1 stage but may also lead to a Natural Gift Grass for Rotom-W. You can also use this to make your opponent believe your Electivire is Scarfed and once the time is right, defeat an unsuspecting threat once you switch up your moves on them. Natural Gift is a super new concept for Electivire these days because most are either Choice Scarfed or Life Orb. No matter what they are almost all 4 attacks. (Unless you battle the Substitute or Meditate Electivire shown briefly in the MPL season 2!)
-Eelektross is known as the pokemon that is only used as a set up sweeper. Dragon Tail or Knock Off? These are usually Rest, Sleep Talk, Coil, and either Knock Off or Dragon Tail with a hefty load of Special Defense investments and some speed to outspeed other Eel's. Months ago the average Eelektross only ran Knock Off because you can get rid of an item and dish out heavy damage to the opponent. The only bad side to this strategy is that it loses to Cotton Guard Mega Ampharos, Psych Up pokemon (although not as common), and a few others. Dragon Tail has become more of the standard move because you can hit Mega Ampharos with Super Effective damage and get rid of the Cotton guard if it had one set up. As well as Knock Off, Dragon Tail has a few negatives associated with it also. Such Counters are Roar Raikou and Zapdos and the limited amount of PP this move contains.
- Stunfisk is the only Electric-Ground type in the game so far and the only pokemon in Electric Monotype that can use Stealth Rock. Scald is also a very viable move on Stunfisk because it gives you the chance to burn while they may weaken you and you can Rest all the damage off. Stunfisk helps the Dragon Tail Eelektross set with the residual damage from the Stealth Rock (if you can keep them up against Zapdos) and can use stab Ground type moves like Earth Power or Earthquake. For this reason, many people use Stunfisk, Defiant Thundurus, and Eelektross all on the same team for the hazards synergy. Nonetheless it is a pokemon that does not hinder the team if it is used except against the Bulk Up Substitute Thundurus set.
- Thundurus is super versatile in Electric Monothreat. After battling many matches against it, the most common sets that was used was fully Physical with Life Orb and Defiant. Normally it has Knock Off, Superpower, U-turn, the normal stuff on a Physical Thundurus even in regular Monotype. The reason Defiant is a great ability is because if it is paired with Stunfisk and the opposing Zapdos wants to Defog the Stealth Rocks away, it will be an automatic +2 Attack if predicted correctly. The second most common set that Thundurus uses in Electric Monothreat is the NP, Nasty Plot, set consisting of Thunderbolt and Hidden Power Ground. Thunderbolt is so that it can hit the levitaters or Air Balloon users. The Hidden Power ground reason is obvious. Once it sets up, there is not much that can beat it since only things like Jolteon, Raikou, and Choice Scarf users will out speed it without going for a speed tie. The last set that is never used much but is a threat is the set Zukushiku mentioned around the team for MPL Season 2 of the Electric Monothreat round. Zukushiku suggested a specially defensive Thundurus with Bulk Up, Crunch, Substitute, and Taunt. It sets up mainly against something like Stunfisk where it's only move is Scald and that can not break the Substitute no matter what.

Replays:
For extra replays of Electric Monothreat, search for replays from the username "Threat Electric"
1. Ticken vs Crashy (MPL)
~ Electric Monothreat Analysis brought to you by Ticktick ~​
- One of the main Star's of Fairy Monothreat. After a few Calm Minds / Cosmic Powers make it almost unbreakable outside of a crit. Magic Guard shields it from Toxic while Unaware lets you win against other boosters like opposing Clefables as one example. The Calm Mind set is usually ran with dual attacks + Rest or a Stored Power based one. The dual attacks typically are Flamethrower and Moonblast to hit any Pokemon for neutral or Super Effective damage. It is also most commonly ran with Unaware because Rest nullifies the effects of a possible Toxic building up or a Burn. The Cosmic Power + Stored Power set is basically the stall Clefable v Clefable is known for in Fairy Monothreat. It is also seen with Unaware but more often than the Calm Mind set runs the Magic Guard set. The reason for this is some people would rather use Moonlight + Thunder Wave instead of the Rest + Sleep Talk. Nonetheless, bring something to counter these like Encore + Taunt Whimsicott or Perish Song + Whirlpool Azumarill.
- The most used Belly Drum set allows Azumarill to sweep teams with weakened Unaware Clefables and / or Whimsicotts. Waterfall and Aqua Jet 1HKOes pretty much everything at +6. It’s advised to run Jolly and max Speed because winning speed ties against other Azumarills is important and can Aqua Jet a Klefki before it gets a Reflect up to halve the damage give by Azumarill. The move set is the exact same normally found on a Fairy Monotype team; Belly Drum, Aqua Jet, Play Rough, Waterfall/Iron Tail. The second most used set that Azumarill uses is the Choice Banded set with 4 attacks. It is the same moves as Belly Drum Azumarill except no Belly Drum, surprising right? To replace Belly Drum you add Iron Tail which can KO Whimsicott, damage Clefable heavily, etc.. It is a great wall breaker but a slow one at that so keep in mind you need to preserve it to KO some stuff. The least used set would be the Perish Song + Whirlpool set which is there to kill stall set up users like Clefable or Klefki, Calm Mind and Iron Defense.
- Although Mega Gardevoir is outclassed by Mega Diancie, it is still a very powerful wallbreaker. Hyper Voice does a good amount of damage to everything it hits, and Taunt + Calm Mind allows it to stallbreak Pokemon like Clefable. However unlike Sylveon, it has access to Healing Wish which gives one of your other Pokemon a second chance. Not only does it have access to Healing Wish but it can also support the team by using Trick Room. Trick Room could help provide Mawile, a rather slow but powerful Pokemon similar to Azumarill, the speed it needs to break teams. Do not forget to prepare for Mega Gardevoir thinking everyone will use Mega Diancie because that may lead to a loss for you.
- Mawile is a special Pokemon. It’s terrible in regular Monotype but is amazing in Monothreats just like Pangoro for Dark. This is because it has access to STAB Sheer Force Iron Head which is able to 1HKO a majority of the Pokemon here like Mega Gardevoir and Clefable to name a few. It also has access to Stealth Rock allowing you slowly weaken your opponent's team if you want to go to a more supportive style. Aside from Life Orb you can also use an Assault Vest Mawile which can take 1 Earth Power from Mega Diancie or challenge a non Will-O-Wisp Mega Gardevoir. Sucker Punch is the only priority move it gets sadly so it won't be doing much but it could help get pokemon in range for another move.
- Togekiss is one of the most annoying Pokemon you can experience in general. Most Togekiss are Choice Scarf with Trick and Hidden Power Steel in order to snatch a KO on an unsuspecting Mega Diancie. Trick is useful to combat a Clefable or even a Azumarill which hinders their viability for that match. Alongside those moves it always carries Air Slash because it was a 60% chance to flinch thanks to Serene Grace and can weaken walls as long as they do not have any leftovers or SpDef boosts from Cosmic Power or Calm Mind. The last move is Fire blast to injury Mawile or Klefki as they can take Hidden Power Steel and Air Slash reasonably well. The other lesser used set is the Defog, Thunder Wave set which relies more on hax and gets walled by Mega Diancie. As a result, it makes Togekiss much easier to handle.
- Whimsicott can generally annoy the opponent with Encore and SubSeed, Substitute and Leech Seed. Encore makes your opponent think twice before setting up with Azumarill or Clefable, while SubSeed just cause rage quits if the opposing Clefable is not Magic Guard. Just be wary of sound based moves like Hyper Voice since it bypasses sub. It also acts as a check to Belly Drum Azumarill since it lives a +6 Aqua Jet at full health and is able to deal damage with Giga Drain.
- Because of its Steel typing, it allows Klefki to check a good amount of Pokemon and it has 2 viable options for sets. It can go standard which is Screens, Thunder Wave and Flash Cannon or it can go Calm Mind. Screens, Light Screen and Reflect, allow Pokemon such as Clefable and Azumarill set up more easily while Calm Mind gives Klefki an offensive presence since Flash Cannon hits most Pokemon hard after a few Calm Minds. The Calm Mind set typically has Rest, Sleep Talk, Flash Cannon, and Calm mind or it can go a bulkier route with Iron Defense instead of Sleep Talk. One idea people have not tried out yet is lead Magnet Rise Klefki to check Mega Diancie as they almost never use Hidden Power Fire and thus have to switch out 9/10 times.
- Mega Diancie is the most used Mega in Fairy Monothreat. It can support the team by using Stealth Rock and can provide coverage to attack Pokemon like Earth Power for Klefki and Mawile, Diamond Storm for Togekiss, and even a Hidden Power Poison for Whimsicott. Klefki can normally 1v1 Diancie even if it does not carry Magnet Rise because Earth Power is not a guaranteed KO on Klefki and Flash Cannon does indeed KO.
- Granbull is a pretty solid anti-metagame pokemon on Fairy Monothreats, having access to a great movepool with Earthquake, Thunder Wave, Thunder Punch, Fire Punch, Roar and Heal Bell. A +speed nature is usually preferred to outspeed unboosted Klefki and Adamant Azumarill, while also outspeeding defensive Togekiss. Earthquake + Thunder Punch is great coverage on Fairy Monothreats, being only resisted by Whimsicott.


Replays:
For extra replays of Fairy Monothreat, search for replays from the username "Threat Fairy"
1. Ticken vs SWL Eric
~ Fairy Monothreat Analysis brought to you by Anttya ~​
- One of the more less viable but more useful users in the current metagame. Breloom can usually change how the opponent has to battle which can indirectly benefit you from even before the battle even starts. One example of this is the fact that people normally want to sweep with Hawlucha and Breloom either slows it down or puts it to sleep preventing the sweep in most cases. There are only a few pokemon that can actually wall it and it's counter part chesnaught does that great if you are in need for a Breloom counter. Other checks to this is using Stealth Rocks as the only spinners that are used ion this meta are the Hitmon's which are alsmot never used on a serious team.
- Medicham is one of the two viable megas used in Fighting Monothreat. Although it's move set is limited compared to the other Mega, Gallade, Medicham gets the job done with Priority moves and it's huge Attack stat almost always snatching a KO with Psycho Cut, High Jump Kick, or Zen Headbutt. In the past people used Mega Medicham to deal with Hawlucha thanks to it's dual priority moves. These days you might rather have regular Medicham because Mega Medicham lacks speed which is mandatory in Fighting Monothreat. Some threats to this Pokemon include Hawlucha and Mega Gallade.
- Infernape is one of the most versatile Pokemon in Fighting Monothreat as it can be a suicide lead, Offensive set either on the Special or Physical side, and even a Support set. The most commonly seen set Infernape uses is the suicide lead as it almost guarantees that any Focus Sashes the opponent may have are broken; more specifically Breloom. It's moves may consist of Counter, Acrobatics, Fake Out, Stealth Rock, Will-O-Wisp, and much more.
- Mega Gallade is debatably the best Mega for Fighting Monothreat over Mega Medicham. Both pokemon get the same Psychic moves while Gallade gets a much safer Fighting move. The main benefit that Gallade has over Mega Medicham is the ability Inner Focus which means if both pokemon are battling, Gallade wins as it cannot get flinched by Fake Out and can KO Medicham in 2 attacks, Psycho Cut and Shadow Sneak respectively. Another benefit that Gallade has is it can use Swords Dance in case there is a Counter heavy Conkeldurr on the other side. The main move set is Psycho Cut, Close Combat, Shadow Sneak, and Destiny Bond/Swords Dance. The main threat is Hawlucha as it is faster than Mega Gallade and can KO it. Nothing else really rivals it other than maybe itself.
- The only Conkeldurr sets that are seen in Fighting Monothreat can vary. Some people use Max HP and Max Defense with a Weakness Policy to use against Hawlucha as it can take a Sky Attack and KO Hawlucha with Ice Punch after the +2. Some other variants of this is the Coba Berry set with Max Attack and Ice Punch/Thunderpunch. As you can see, Conkeldurr's move set only consists of one move so for some filler moves you can use Drain Punch, Mach Punch, and even Counter for things like non SD Mega Gallade.
- Most people are probably thinking, "Why are you suggesting a pokemon which is weak to the type used in every battle?". Cobalion is a special case. Every team prepares for both Hawlucha's Flying moves and one of the two Psychic type pokemon's moves as well. As long as Cobalion is provided a Chople Berry, it can take any attack from any of those three threats and either Thunder Wave or Attack. The only set you need to look out for when using Cobalion is the Substitute + Drain Punch Hawlucha as it will force you to Volt Switch out. Conkeldurr and Cobalion are similar in this regard as they both are on the team to deal with Hawlucha/Mega Gallade/Medicham and only have one set as a result.
- If you think of Fighting Monothreat, Hawlucha is the first threat that comes in mind. Over a few years, the start of Monothreat, some Hawlucha sets have been changed from Kee Berry + Bulk Up to the more common sets of today being Substitute + Bulk Up or Sky Attack. The set everyone really prepares for is the Sky Attack set as the Sky attack is the only set up it needs to sweep an unprepared team. One problem with the Sky Attack set was the Mega Medicham priority spam so people use Protect as it can stop the damage from Fake Out. The set that takes a lot of set up but very few answers to is the Substitute + Bulk Up set because it not only raises it's Defense and Attack while being at double Speed but it also regains health from the Drain Punch. Common Hawlucha checks are Conkeldurr, Cobalion, and Coba Berries.

Replays:
For extra replays of Fighting Monothreat, search for replays from the username "Threat Fighting"
~ Fighting Monothreat Analysis brought to you by Ticktick ~​
 
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- Entei is like the Electivire of Fire Monothreat. Just like Electivire, Entei seems like a one trick pony as it is usually Choice Band with 4 attacks but it can also use Natural gift to its advantage. The only physical Ground move Entei has access to is Bulldoze. If you use Natural Gift Apicot Berry [Ground], you'll find it has access to another physical Ground type move but it is a one time use. Natural Gift will mean it has a temporary boost in the base power for the unneeded move slot Entei will have. The only other viable option an Entei can go with is Howl. Yes Howl. Howl will make it so you gradually raise your Attack stat just like Meditate for Electivire. It is like a Choice Band for all the moves except you are not locked into any moves! The other two moves most people use every time on Entei is Extreme Speed and Stone Edge. Nothing fancy with those moves but they work well every time.
- Camerupt/Mega Camerupt should be used sparingly because they help prevent sweeps from most pokemon because regular Camerupt has the ability Solid Rock which can help it live a Super Effective move like Earthquake from something like Darmanitan or Infernape. Another thing you need to keep in mind with Camerupt is when to Mega evolve it. As some may know already, Camerupt actually loses speed once it is in the Mega form; therefore, keep it in the regular form for as long as possible until your opponent hits the button first so you out speed them. Camerupt/Mega Camerupt are both reliable Stealth Rock users too as they can takes hits from many pokemon and may even scare some out fearing an offensive presence coming. If possible, try to not leave Camerupt in against a Rotom-H as it is known to carry Hidden Power Water just for things like Camerupt. Trick Room Camerupt is a great idea as well since there are no other pokemon that can out slow it. If possible, try to use Protect on Camerupt so that you can gain the lowered speed to counter an opposing potential Trick Room Camerupt.
- We all know by now what Torkoal does. Torkoal does nothing differently in Fire Monothreat than it does in regular Fire Monotype. The only slight difference is that instead of using Lava Plume to potentially burn a few pokemon, it carries Earthquake/Earth Power/Stone Edge. All the other moves are the same like Yawn, Stealth Rock, Rapid Spin, are the exact same so do not worry too much. Shell Smash Torkoal is not that great as it is still out sped by most of the pokemon in the metagame.
-Just as previous few pokemon, Infernape does not have too many viable sets that are used in Fire Monothreat. The main 2 sets are lead Fake Out + Stealth Rock/3 moves or the other set with Choice Scarf. The Fake Out Infernape set is meant to break possible Focus Sashes and then hit hard with some of the moves it can dish out or set up Stealth Rock depending on how your team is built. Choice Scarf is mainly used for a late game sweeper because there are no real late game sweepers faster than Infernape in Fire Monothreat. It helps Infernape outspeed Darmanitan, Mega Houndoom, etc..
- Finally we get to a pokemon with some different viable sets. Rotom-H has been seen to use Light Screen and Reflect in order to help set up with another pokemon. The only down side to this strategy is that it means you can also be set up on if it is like Mega Camerupt since it walls you, Heatran, or even Mega Houndoom. The preferred Rotom-H set in my opinion would be to use a Choice Specs Rotom with Dual Electric moves, Volt Switch and Thunderbolt, as well as Hidden Power Water for unsuspecting Mega Camerupt's. Trick really is not needed but could be useful at the same time depending on the other team. Like my fun team has Specially Defensive Victini that can be very annoying so tricking that a Specs could help you but that is basically all you will be tricking since you can damage everything a lot with any of the other moves.
- Scarf, Specially Defensive, whatever you need Heatran has it. For the most part Fire Monothreat pokemon are one-dimensional on the possible sets they can use based on their movepool and Heatran is no exception. The main moves this pokemon will be using no matter the item or set will be Stealth Rock, Ancient Power and Earth Power. A Choice Scarf Heatran is not as viable as a more defensive set because there will be things like Infernape, Darmanitan, etc.. which are faster Choice Scarf users and can defeat Heatran in one shot. One bonus for a speedy Heatran is almost guaranteed Stealth Rock unless your opponent uses Defog or Rapid Spin. The Specially Defensive Heatran can help against some pokemon like Victini, Rotom-H, Mega Houndoom, etc.. and still be ale to set up Stealth Rock while being able to keep them up from Torkoal.
- Darmanitan has a rather large offensive presence with the few Super Effective moves in Earthquake and Rock Slide/Stone Edge. Not only does it use those two moves every time you see it join the match, it also uses U-Turn to use as momentum if you can predict your opponent to switch. Just like Torkoal, there really is not much else to be said about Darmanitan because of the limited movepool and other viable strategies as Zen Mode Darmanitan is not viable in the current metagame.
- "Kamkam". Chandelure is not used that often but if it is it is used below par too. The normal sets I see is Trick Room for Mega Camerupt support or Balloon. Now that we all know Camerupt loses Speed when it Mega evolves, there is actually some use in Trick Room. Most of the pokemon in Monothreat Fire tend to have fast speeds like Infernape, Darmanitan, Mega Houndoom to name a few. This helps support that Trick Room would be a useful strategy although most people cant keep Chandelure alive long enough to take advantage of it. the other set that is normally used is the possible Balloon Chandelure so that you have a spin blocker against Torkoal and it can not hit you with Earth Power/Earthquake as those are normally the only two moves a Torkoal will have. Alongside having the Balloon to spin block, I also saw a Calm Mind Chandelure which helps it put a larger dent in the opposing team.
- The newest threat has just arrived! Volcanion, please do not call Volc because it is the same as Volcarona, has very strong Special Attack and it also can take a good amount of Physical attacks. As we all know Steam Eruption is a super strong move with stab that it can defeat any Fire pokemon besides itself. For that reason alone, most Volcanion's are Balloon, to dodge the potential Earth Power, Assualt Vest, Choice Scarf/Specs. Ever since I started I dreaded the day Volcanion would be released for this metagame and it was for good measure. It is possible to make it to finals without a Volcanion anyways so do not think it is a must on every team.

Replays:
For extra replays of Fire Monothreat, search for replays from the username "Threat Fire"
1. Ticken vs Average Fella
~ Fire Monothreat Analysis brought to you by Ticktick ~​
- This is the destroyer of all Flying types. Roost, Stone Edge, Ice Fang, Fire Blast, Taunt, what else do you need on this? Mega Aerodactyl not only has super high base Speed at 150 but it also has a rather high base Attack stat at 135. There are a few ways to beat this beast; first the most common way is to use a mxed defensive Skarmory with Iron Head so that you are not defeated in 2 hits and you may defeat that in 2 hits. The next option is to use a Scarf high base speed pokemon. This does not include things like Togekiss as Mega Aerodactyl will outspeed but I mean things like Thundurus-Therian or something of the sort. Lastly the last way to beat it is really unreliable because you have to hope it misses a Ice Fang or Stone Edge as neither are 100%. Nonetheless Mega Aerodactyl should be the only mega on your team you should consider unles you want to use lead Stealth Rock regular Aerodactyl and some other mega like Charizard I guess.
- Life Orb or Choice Specs are the way to go with this bird. Articuno is the only viable Ice Flying type with Ice Beam which makes it a real threat. It goes right past Dragonite's Mulitscale and damages basically anything besides a Specially Defensive Articuno or Skarmory. Not only does it have access to Ice Beam but it can also use Ice Shard if needed as it is a Super Effective priority move and may snag some kills or play mindgames with things like Honchkrow. Uninvested HP or Special Defense does not mean it is lacking some defensive stats. Articuno is still really defensive on the special side as it can beat any special Dragonite with Roost + Ice Beam. Although it loses to things like Stone Edge, Articuno is still a really useful pokemon to use on a team.
- Zapdos is a must need on all Flying Monothreat teams. As most of you play Monothreat ORAS know Flying uses Zapdos to stall out Electric Monotype because of the lack of reliable ways to defeat this and Flying Monothreat is no exception. Discharge is a great bonus because it has 30% chance to paralysis the opponent and you can use Discharge + Hidden Power Ice to finish off most pokemon. If it is Zapdos vs Zapdos you always want to carry Toxic on it so that you can stall the other one. The best offense for this bird is to use Stone Edge because these tend to be Specially Defense because they are meant to beat out either Thundurus forms hoping they are not the Nasty Plot variants.
- Dragonite is among one of the most dangerous pokemon in this metagame because of the diversity of moves it might use and the stats to back any of those moves. The most successful sets Dragonite have used are based around Special Attacks like Ice Beam, Thunderbolt with Agility and Weakness Policy to round it out. BoltBeam, Thunderbolt and Ice Beam together, are Super Effective on every pokemon in Flying. Because of the lack of resistances is why Dragonite is such a big threat and there are no other Flying pokemon with access to BoltBeam besides Gyarados but do not use that... My personal favorite set to use is a mixed Dragonite with Ice Punch, Stone Edge, and Thunderbolt/Flamethrower because it covers everything with high base power. Do not use fully physical because things like Skarmory and Landorus-Therian will have a much easier time beating you than if you went to a Specially invested one. Because of these reasons Dragonite is known to have used BoltBeam in the past.
- When you think of Flying, Skarmory is one of the first you think of... for Flying Monotype. Flying Monothreat is different as Skarmory is not as big as a threat it originally is. Most Pokemon in the meta use special attacks either for Skarmory or Landorus-Therian which just lowers Skarmory's viability. Normally Dragonite can only hit it with Fire Punch and do around 40% if Choice Banded but in Flying Monothreat Dragonite carries Thunderbolt which is a 2HKO. Even which those changes, Skarmory is still one of the better Stealth Rock users not to mention having Whirlwind and Sturdy. Although Skarmory is a one trick pony, remember to prepare well for it.
- Thundurus-Therian highly outclasses it's counterpart in a number of unique niches. The first one is the access to only having the ability Volt Absorb leading to other electric moves null and void. This helps against Thundurus-I because the only way it can attack is with Hidden Power Ice. The next one is being a great Choice Scarf user as it out speeds every Pokemon in the meta like Mega Aerodactyl.
Although the Nasty Plot + Substitute + Salac Berry is a great set for Thundurus-I, it does not work as great to revenge kill opponents and provide momentum.
- An alternative to Aerodactyl, Archeops has all the moves it need at its disposal, such as Head Smash and Stone Edge, which gives it great STAB against Articuno and other Flying-types. Heat Wave can really be helpful in removing Skarmory of the field. Hidden Power Ice allows for Archeops to deal with Landorus-T as well. Many players many not have seen it but Arcehops can be used well as a mixed attacker and a supporter with U-turn, Tailwind, Defog and Switcheroo With Choice Scarf, Archeops is one of the best revenge killers in the meta.
Replays:
For extra replays of Flying Monothreat, search for replays from the username "Threat Flying"
1. Ticken vs Zukushiku
2. Ticken vs ywa1n
~ Flying Monothreat Analysis brought to you by Ticktick ~​
- Gengar is very unpredictable and versatile. It can be a great revenge killer as its high Speed and Special Attack allow it to out speed and OHKO many troublesome pokemon. Gengar can also effectively be a Life Orb attacker because with it, it can get past its counters such as Jellicent and Spiritomb with Shadow Ball and Dazzling Gleam, respectively. Another viable item on Gengar is Focus Sash as Ghost Monothreat teams usually lack hazards allowing Gengar to preserve it indefinitely. Lastly, despite Gengar's low Attack stat, it can effectively make use of Sucker Punch. It permits Gengar to avoid opposing Sucker Punch as Gengar will usually move first and, in addition to that, it can catch off-guard some threats, however, keep in mind that Gengar is not that strong physically so Sucker Punch won't be doing that much even after Super-Effective damage boost. One set that has not been tried yet is the Reflect Type + Clear Smog set which helps combat CM sets on Spiritomb. Use Leftovers for the Reflect Type set as you'll lose the Poison typing.
- Even if Mega Sableye isn't usable, doesn't mean that Sableye poses no threat either. With access to Will-O-Wisp, it's able to burn physical attackers such as Mega Banette and Doublade. It can also use Taunt to stop sweepers from setting up and use Confide to make special attacker's moves deal less damage. Prankster ability makes it even more of an asset on ghost teams. It's able to provide utility with Knock Off and cripple other defensive Pokemon such as Spritomb and Cofagrigus with Trick. Suppose that it can run a Calm Mind set but it's pretty underrated and doesn't work often.
- Mega Banette due to its offensive nature and strong priority moves, it is a great revenge-killer. Its high attack stat coupled up with its access to moves such as Sucker Punch, Shadow Sneak and Shadow Claw, it is able to hit most pokemon by Super-Effective damage, therefore, OHKO'ing a wide variety of pokemon. Prankster allows Mega Banette to use status moves with priority, which can be useful, as it can burn slower threats using Shadow Sneak, paralyze fast troublesome pokemon or just kill its opponent with itself as a last-ditch effor with Will-oWisp, Thunder Wave and Destiny Biond, respectively.
- Mismagius has a niche in Ghost-type Monothreats due to its high Speed and Decent Special Attack stats. With a choice scarf it is able to outspeed many pokemon thanks to its great speed tier, OHKO'ing slower scarfed Pokemon. Mismagius can also act as a wallbreaker because of its access to Nasty Plot, doubling its Special Attack and with its coverage, it can hit every single pokemon by Super-Effective damage. In addition to that, other options such as Calm Mind are valid and take a more deffensive approach, however, the instant power Nasty Plot offers is often superior.
-Spiritomb is another pokemon blessed by the Dark/Ghost typing; it gets hit neutrally by opposing Ghost-type STAB moves, making it a good choice to counter or check fast Ghosts. It has got two interesting abilities as in Pressure and Infiltrator, the first one allows Spiritomb to counter and pp stall opposing pokemon, mostly used in Calm Minds Sets. The second ability, Infiltrator, allows it to hit pokemon through Substitutes avoiding mind-games. Calm Mind set is the most used set on Spiritomb and with its good bulk it is very hard to take down although it can be crippled by tricking it a Choice Item. Another set is Offensive-Assault Vest; with its good special bulk , offenses and access to moves such as Pursuit, Sucker Punch and Shadow Sneak, Spiritomb is able to counter and OHKO many threats such as Gengar, Chandelure, Mismagius, etc...
-Cofagrigus has a great niche in Ghost Monothreats. It has got Toxic Spikes in combination with Skill Swap to cripple the defensive pokemon that give trouble to Ghost Monothreat teams, most notably Mega-Sableye. Cofagrigus' bulk allows it to take hits while it can freely set-up Toxic Spikes. Additionally, Toxic Spikes allows the team hit harder with Hex as it doubles its base power on pokemon with status inflicted. Lastly, Cofagrigus has got other options such as Haze and Trick Room, however, the later isn't really good as Trick Room teams tend to struggle due to Ghost Monothreat's nature.
-Jellicent is a great answer for scarfed Ghost-type pokemon as its insanely high Special Defense stat allows it to take hits comfortably. Moreover, its ability Cursed Body can disable opposing Ghost-type moves, most notably Shadow Ball, giving it a free turn. Jellicent can be useful to spread status making Hex a good option for its Teammates. Other options such as Choice Specs set with Water Spout can be a great lure for bulkier pokemon it can't beat with bulky sets such as Calm Mind Spiritomb.
-Chandelure is a very flexible pokemon in Ghost Monothreats, being able to fulfill many roles needed. It can act as a powerful wallbreaker, it has got a very high Special Attack stat paired up with powerful STAB moves such as Overheat, Fire Blast and Shadow Ball. It does a fairly well job as a revenge killer with a Choice Scarf, it has an above average speed allowing it to outspeed the whole unboosted meta and kill frailer threars such as Gengar, Mismagius and Froslass. Lastly, Chandelure can act as a win condition with a Substitute + Calm Mind set. Its access to Clear Smog allows it to win Calm Mind wars with Spiritomb, making it nearly unstoppable after some boosts.
-Doublade is a very dangerous Pokemon, every single Ghost Monothreat team should have a counter or check to it. Its access to both, priority and Swords Dance make it deadly as it can boost its attack to high levels and hit very hard with Shadow Sneak, doing Super-Effective damage to all pokemon except Spiritomb and Sableye. Doublade also gets Pursuit, being able to severely damage opposing Pokemon when they switch out, however, it should be used carefully as Doublade is very frail on the Special side even after Eviolite boosts.
Replays:
For extra replays of Ghost Monothreat, search for replays from the username "Threat Ghost"
~ Ghost Monothreat Analysis brought to you by Zukushiku ~​
- Essentially the main pokemon that Monothreat Grass is centralized around beating. It’s neutral to three of the major attacking types in Monothreat Grass thanks to it's ability Thick Fat . There are various sets for Venusaur, Amnesia and Curse being a couple of favorites. Amnesia helps Venusaur stand a chance against strong special attackers like Roserade and Serperior to an extent. Mega Venusaur has so many different options it can choose from makes it very situational on what is the best check for it. Most commonly the best Pokemon against it is Jumpluff or Cradily. Jumpluff is more on the offensive side as it gets both Encore and Acrobatics while Cradily can effectiely stall it out with Infestation and continuously attacking it.
- A pretty good special attacker, essentially Exeggutor without requiring sun, it’s slower, and it’s a bit weaker. It’s also more capable of breaking Venuthorn (Venusaur + Ferrothorn) than Roserade thanks to its STAB on Psychic. It’s also a resister of Psychic coverage, so it has many more opportunities to switch in than Roserade does. It’s also capable of filling various support roles, such as that of a Stealth Rock layer, Healing Wish user, and a possible game/ending NastyPass (Nasty Plot + Baton Pass) user. Its support move pool extends far beyond what a simple analysis can say, try some of it out!
- One of the best special attackers in Grass Monothreat, Roserade can use a unique combination of coverage in STAB Sludge Bomb+Technician HP Fire+Extrasensory for Venusaur. It’s also capable of laying spikes on hard switches if that’s your cup of tea. Bear in mind it’s somewhat slow, so things like Scarf Abomasnow kill it, and Specially Defensive Venusaur still beats non-STAB Extrasensory if you run Life Orb, and you’re forced into 50/50’s if you run Choice Specs.
- This beast is a Blizzard machine, it helps with revenging/breaking walls with the fact that Hail makes Synthesis restore less health. Scarf revenges various problematic mons such as LO Roserade and Celebi, whereas Specs forces a net loss of health for Specially Defensive Venusaur if they spam Synthesis. It’s also one the best ways to deal with Amnesia and/or Calm Mind if you are to use Frost Breath, which ignores those boosts due to always getting a critical hit.
- In a metagame where Venusaur is flat-out the best pokemon, Amoonguss’s niche of a “second worse Venusaur” is actually a pretty good niche! Amoonguss finds its place on more defensive builds, as either a defensive pivot into weaker attackers to heal up with Synthesis, if not AV, and Sludge Bomb. Amoonguss can also provide as a check to set up pokemon like Celebi with Clear Smog. The Clear Smog set is most beneficial when using an Assault Vest pivot as it can help with breaking Ferrothorn and stalling out pokemon like Venusaur. (252+ SpA Amoonguss Hidden Power Fire vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Ferrothorn: 140-168 (39.7 - 47.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO)
- What’s your switch-in to Ice/Poison/Psychic coverage? If you are like most people, it’ll be this! Essentially, this pokemon’s job is to stack hazards, take hits the rest of the team can’t, and maybe snatch a kill or two with Gyro Ball against an overly aggressive Scarf Abomasnow user. The only real flaws with it is that it’s 4x weak to fire (resolved by Venusaur support as well as possible Occa Berries.) and it basically flat out loses to Chesnaught if you are not carrying the move Poison Jab.
- Bulletproof is probably one of the absolute best abilities Chesnaught can have, as it grants it a total immunity to Sludge Bomb (it’s weak to Fire and Psychic, so don’t randomly whip it out and let it get owned.), so it can hard wall baddies such as Ferrothorn and Venusaur, and either Belly Drum + Substitute, or it can set up Spikes to make Ferrothorn’s job easier.
- Neutral to the popular Poison/Psychic coverage as well as having its recovery (Harvest Lum Rest) unhindered by hail, as well as basically hardwalling Exeggutor. Basically, a pretty good anti-meta threat, although Abomasnow will force it out 10 times out of 10, and so will Technician HP Fire Roserade.
- This Pokemon has an unique niche with STAB Acrobatics whilst having a great movepool with key moves such as Encore and Swords Dance, usually being able to sweep late-game without much effort once Ferrothorn and Cradily are out of the picture. It also has great Speed and an amazing ability in Infiltrator, being able to deal with Substitute users like Virizion and opposing Jumpluff.
- With a great physical movepool including Close Combat, Sacred Sword, Zen Headbutt, Aerial Ace, X-Scissor and Bounce, Virizion works great as a late game cleaner or a Swords Dance sweeper. It also has access to Taunt and works finely as a anti-lead. On the anti-lead set, Aerial Ace is used to deal with Leavanny, while the STAB fighting move of choice helps you deal with other hazard setters like Cradily and Ferrothorn
- With a great ability in Unburden and access to Acrobatics, Sceptile can try to pull a Hawlucha (to an extent) and sweep unprepared teams mid-game. Common sets use Kebia Berry (poison resisting berry) to set up on Mega Venusaur or Roserade. Other options are using a set with Substitute with Liechi Berry (which raises attack) or Sitrus Berry, or a Focus Sash, although hazards are very present on Grass Monothreats.
- Grass doesn't have many hazard removal options outside of Shiftry, which isn't really used on Monothreats. With that said, if you manage to set up Sticky Web early-game you can have a huge advantage on your opponent, so that's where Leavanny has its niche. But don't be fooled, with access to Swords Dance, STAB X-Scissor and Swarm as its ability, this Pokemon can easily poke holes in unprepared teams. It also has access to Baton Pass, being able to pass a Swords Dance boost to a threat such as Jumpluff, Virizion or Mega Abomasnow to generate a sweep.
Replays:
For extra replays of Grass Monothreat, search for replays from the username "Threat Grass"
~ Grass Monothreat Analysis brought to you by average fella ~​
- If you don’t want to sacrifice a move for Stealth Rock on Mamoswine, Piloswine is just as good. With the addition of an Eviolite, it’s able to tank many moves and threaten back with Ice STAB. It also has Ice Shard to compensate for its slow speed. The only down side to Piloswine is that the only type it resists in the meta is Ice attacks and Mamoswine can easy damage Piloswine for a lot of damage with Superpower. Even though it may only take one attack, it is a great lead as Freeze Dry is super effective against the whole meta and forces Mamoswine in. Common moves on Piloswine are Ice Shard, Stealth Rock, Freeze Dry, and a filler move maybe consisting of Superpower, Toxic, or Roar.
- Undoubtedly, Mega Swampert changed the meta by forcing every team to go either anti-rain or rain themselves. The physical variant is much more commonly used on Mega Swampert with it's tremendously high 160 base Attack stat. Although the physical variant is used much more, the special variant also posses a threat as it can basically 2HKO any pokemon in the meta. There are very few ways to bet Mega Swampert reliably in Ground Monothreat but the most common way is to sac something, make sure Rain is not up, and then use something like Landorus-I or Torterra to force it out or KO it with any Grass move. Another option is to use Seismitoad as it is another rain sweeper with access to great bulk and Grass Knot.
- Unlike regular Ground Monotype, Torterra is actually one of the main threats any team has to deal with. Wood Hammer paired with Natural Gift Ice makes it pretty hard to switch into and its huge bulk allows it to live most moves aside from the obvious moves like Ice Shard from Mamoswine. Not only is the dual attacking set viable but the Choice Scarf set and the Yache Berry set are just as threatening. The Choice Scarf set has a more difficult time defeating foes as it cannot switch up moves but it is a fantastic late game sweeper. The Yache Berry set basically could imitate a Choice Scarf set and once a Mamoswine comes in to Ice Shard, Torterra wins. Some teams may use something like Garchomp or Gliscor to deal with Torterra on the defensive side and Mamoswine or Piloswine are the more common offensive threats.
- Gastrodon is a common wall in Ground Monotype and as well as Ground Monothreat. With a Rindo Berry, it can tank most moves and deal huge damage back with Hidden Power Grass or Scald. However, it’s susceptible to Freeze Dry and is quite slow. Gastrodon is outclassed by Seismitoad any way you look at it aside from reliable recovery. The main thing a Gastrodon might be used for is to combat Landorus-I so that it can take a Grass Knot and KO it with an Ice Beam. Gastrodon does not have much diversity other than either being a bulky offensive Pokemon or a really defensive one with Stockpile.
- One of Ground Monothreat’s biggest threats. With access to Freeze Dry and Icicle Crash, they make switching into Mamoswine that much harder. However, the sheer amount of Yache Berries in Ground Monothreats does make it hard for Mamoswine to fully shine. Some examples of this are Torterra and Landorus-I, two Pokemon 4x weak to any Ice attack. Mamosweine must always be ran with max speed in order to at least have a shot of defeating any other Mamoswine's in a speed tie. As for checks, there really aren't any except use Yache Berries or a fast strong Water type to KO Mamoswine.
- Seismitoad is a Pokemon that’s made for Ground Monothreats. Water Absorb allows it to switch into Scald, and it takes neutral damage from Ice moves and in return, Seismitoad has access to Hydro Pump and Grass Knot allowing it to muscle past most Pokemon. Alongside Water Aborb, it also gets Swift Swim either to combat rain teams or use one on a rain team itself. One downside to Seismistoad is the only Ice move it gets is Hidden Power Ice and that does not have the power to KO Torterra making the team that much weaker to a late game sweep Other than that, Sis mistoad is a great stop to sweepers as it can take any attack aside from crits, or Torterra.
- Landorus-I is one of the most offesnsive pokemon in Ground Monothreat aside from Mamoswine and Swampert. It has access to a wide range of move types like Grass Knot, HP Ice, and Focus Blast. The main downside is the 4x weakness to Ice, noticing a trend? As such, the second most used item on Landorus is Yache Berry right behind Life Orb. Yache makes it so it can KO Mamoswine and the Life orb set is to make the attacks hurt anything that wants to go against it. Unless it is Yache, Mamoswine can easily deal with Landorus.
Replays:
For extra replays of Ground Monothreat, search for replays from the username "Threat Ground"
~ Ground Monothreat Analysis brought to you by Anttya ~​
- This is known as the main influence on Ice dittos in regular Monotype, and Monothreat is no exception to this rule! Although there are more sets than just Shell Smash available, Shell Smash is still very useful. Rock Blast has very few good switch ins beyond Mamoswine and Avalugg, and they both fear a +2 Special Attack Hydro Pump/Surf to the face. Be advised that it’s very difficult to set up against most special attackers and you’ll often get an Ice Shard knock out once you’re taken down to the Focus Sash. Choice Scarf sets can beat Regice, Froslass, and weaken Kyurem-B, and Rapid Spin + Toxic Spikes support sets can help weaken balanced Ice Monothreats which rely on Avalugg + Regice to take both physical and special attacks. Always assume it is the Shell Smash set just in case you have a check for it.
- Articuno is the most common second special wall used in Ice Monothreats. This pokemon is one of the last remaining relics of the Kyurem-W days where Protect Articuno beat Fusion Flare. It can PP stall most special attackers, as well as being able to be an useful cleric for the Toxic's from Piloswine that are too often thrown around, and it can awaken potential RestTalk users. Also, it’s un-spinblock-able, making your match up against Piloswine + Froslass teams better. Not as useful as it was, but still a good contender.
- One of the best defensive pivots on Mono-Ice, and one of the best Stealth Rock layers. This can Toxic walls that your team has difficulty beating, as well as phaze setup sweepers with the ever-useful Roar. It’s impossible to Taunt this as well, as it has the ability Oblivious (Fire and Ice moves are nearly non-existent in Monothreat Ice, so Thick Fat is nearly useless.) It’s recommended to run this with Froslass to be able to block Rapid Spin’s trait of removing Stealth Rock.
- Regice has often been thought of as “good stats, bad defensive typing”. No more! It’s bulky enough to make a good defensive core with Avalugg, with semi-reliable recovery in Rest+Sleep Talk. The two other slots are usually either two attacks (Focus Blast and Flash Cannon, usually) or two stall moves (Amnesia, Toxic usually) Keep this a mile away from physical attacks, and keep it away from phasing whichever moves you use.
- First of all, it’s basically impossible to do anything with this with the opponent’s Avalugg up (besides hit it with a Toxic), who happens to be one of the best Pokemon in Monothreat Ice. It may help to use it for setting up double switches before that, but the main thing it’s used for is what happens after Avalugg goes down. Ice pokemon are heavy, and Weavile has Low Kick. It’s a late-game cleaner (or a revenge killer with a Choice Scarf, as it out speeds +2 Cloyster), but make sure you can kill Avalugg before you decide to use this on your team.
- Basically same niche as Weavile but with some of the traits of Piloswine as well (can lay Stealth Rock while being offensive), but more difficult to beat with Articuno, easier to PP stall seeing as it uses Stone Edge and Superpower (and sometimes Iron Head) rather than Low Kick, and it can also act as a secondary Stealth Rock layer, as well as good clutch check to Shell Smash Cloyster with a Passho Berry (to be neutral to Razor Shell as well as Rock Blast).
- In a Monothreat where Stealth Rock and hazards are such big win conditions, and one of the best pokemon available to you is a Rapid Spinner, spin blockers are in high demand. Froslass is happy to offer its services! It can run a number of sets, either a Focus Sash set to aid with its paralysis-spreading task, or Leftovers if you want to try out Substitute+Disable. A Scarf set can also work, allowing you to out speed +2 Cloyster by one point. It can also do a fair amount of work if you predict it going down with a clutch Destiny Bond (possibly on a win condition…!).
- Saying what Kyurem does in Monothreat Ice is a monumental task. It usually either runs a special or mixed set; Flash Cannon+Focus Blast is unresisted on Ice, although it often runs Fusion Bolt and Iron Head for Waters and Regice, respectively. It’s basically one of your most reliable ways to kill Avalugg, as well as a good general cleanup pokemon if the other person’s scarves are dead. It can also run a fairly good Substitute+Roost set, to exploit its decent natural bulk as well as Water resistance.
- Your counter play to physical threats and Stealth Rock. Try to not switch it in on special Kyurem-B, also try not to spin uselessly against Froslass. (It gets Gyro Ball for a reason!). It can also use Mirror Coat to get a clutch kill on a special attacker, with the help of Sturdy (remove Stealth Rock first, obviously. Be advised this doesn’t work against Kyurem-B thanks to Teravolt.) This shapes the meta around it.

Replays:
For extra replays of Ice Monothreat, search for replays from the username "Threat Ice"
~ Ice Monothreat Analysis brought to you by average fella ~​
 
- What is your solution to sweepers, dastardly sweepers, that plague your team and overpower your defensive core and are at too high of health to be revenge killed by your offensive members? Well, quite often it’s throwing their own sweepers back at them. Ditto’s Imposter ability, along with the ability to hold a Choice Scarf, makes it fantastic in Monothreat Normal, allowing you to take out the other person’s Lopunny without relying on speed ties or sacrifices (if they have Protect, you may be cruising for a bruising), as well as allowing you to spam High Jump Kick on the rest of their team with no possibility of being outsped. Ditto still has problems, though. It struggles against Audino teams, as they have no powerful Mega Lopunny to imposter, as well as Fake Out+Quick Attack Mega Lopunny and Banded Quick Attack Diggersby, as Ditto is still just as revengable as Mega Lopunny when it’s impostered. It’s bound to lose to random Protects as well, as it can’t punish a predicted Protect like Mega Lopunny can, unless you hard switch out and make Ditto less of an asset for the later game. It’s a good asset, but one with weaknesses. This should be always considered for a team, but it’s nowhere near necessary.
- How do you beat Intimidate Staraptors, pivoting into your Lopunnies and stealing your momentum? Do you want a good yellow magic user to gimp your opponent’s poor Pokemon? Porygon2 may be the mon for you! Its utility is basically to act as a defensive pivot, and to paralyze things, not much more to it, but it’s pretty good at its job. This is an okay mon, shouldn’t be your first choice for a slot but shouldn’t be the last.
- High Jump Kick spam from Mega Lopunny MUST have a defensive stop, doesn’t it? Well, it does, but it’s less than reliable, as well as requiring what is basically a dedicated teamslot. This is the teamslot. Intimidate+Eviolite is a godsend, allowing it to take very little damage from High Jump Kick (-1 252 Atk Mega Lopunny High Jump Kick vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Staravia: 106-126 (33.7 - 40.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO) while being able to retaliate pretty well. (0 Atk Staravia Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Mega Lopunny: 216-254 (79.7 - 93.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO). The reason this is subpar is because Brave Bird has recoil, so the recoil will make Staravia get 2HKO’d after BB recoil, as well as absolutely requiring hazard removal if it wishes to truly check Lopunny. It does a lot of damage, although it’s often not worth the teamslot. Think of other options before this one, but keep this option in mind.
- If Lopunny is your one-stop shop for Fighting coverage, Staraptor is your one-stop shop for non-Fighting coverage. Brave Bird is a fantastic tool, even if Intimidate is opted for to be more difficult to revenge kill. Essentially, you spam Brave Bird if you think your opponent (in front of you or switched in) will be neutral to Fighting, and if you think they won’t be neutral, use Close Combat. Band and Scarf all have their merits, Band can basically break any wall in Monothreat Normal as well as outspeeding many offensive mons (notably Meloetta) while Scarf outspeeds virtually every mon you will see in Monothreat Normal. The ability is also fairly important, Intimidate can cripple switchins, but is crippled by a Porygon2 switchin thanks to Trace, whereas Reckless makes Brave Bird hit incredibly hard, but makes you much less able to stay alive during mid-to-late game thanks to increased recoil (and increased damage). This is a mon that should always be considered for a slot on Monothreat Normal teams; the flexible roles it fills are very important and nearly irreplaceable.
- One of the best win conditions in Monothreat Normal, as well as the reason many, many mons run random Protect. It’s for this beast. Essentially your modus operandi with this is to kill the other Lopunny, then scout Staraptor’s item (if it’s scarf, take it out with team support, if it’s band, take it out with Lopunny), take out the rare Staravia, take out Ditto, then clean the other team. Easier said than done, but very very possible in Monothreat Normal. High Jump Kick is necessary for the greatest amount of damage possible on Normal Pokemon, Fake Out is fantastic for free damage, a free mega, and possible revenges, and the other two moveslots are up in the air. Quick Attack aids in your goal of beating the other Lopunny without relying on Speed ties, whereas Substitute can be set up if a Protect is predicted, Drain Punch can work for replenishing necessary health (especially from fat mons such as Chansey) and for predicting Protects, and Return/Frustration are useful for consistent damage that can’t miss, and are unpunishable by Protect. Lopunny can also run its own random Protect to win in Lopunny vs Lopunny.
- The more defensive (and generally less viable) option for Monothreat Normal teams is Audino. Audino is notable for being able to beat Mega Lopunny 1v1 without Protect mindgames thanks to its Fighting neutrality, (Dazzling Gleam kills faster than HJK kills), as well as being able to support some members of the team without recovery by means of passing bulky Wishes. It’s unable to take punishment from banded Staraptor, though, and its reliance on Wish+Protect can possibly be a means for some mons to set up on it. It can set up itself with Calm Mind to be a somewhat bulky sweeper, although Chansey is a hard stop to it, as well as banded Staraptor giving it grief. Power-Up Punch can also be used for a somewhat good boosting option when paired with Drain Punch for semi-reliable recovery. It’s not bad by any means, but just make sure Audino is better for your team than Lopunny before using Audino.
- This is one of the most flexible mons in Monothreat Normal, it’s capable of doing quite a few roles. It can be one of the few good special Fighting move users, a good Assault Vest pivot, a physical attacker with Relic Song, or even a mixed attacker that regularly uses Relic Song to change formes and put things to sleep thanks to Serene Grace! It gets a number of physical attacks to make running Pirouette Meloetta worth it, mostly just Close Combat and Knock Off, as well as some more niche moves like Quick Attack. It’s also a valuable Fighting neutrality, which can see a variety of opportunities to switch in, notably on banded Staraptor’s Close Combat. None of its roles are irreplaceable, but it’s flexible enough so that it should probably be considered for a slot on a Monothreat Normal team.
- One of the strongest wallbreakers in Monothreat Normal, as well as access to the very good Quick Attack to revenge Mega Lopunny, this rabbit is raring for action! It’s used best for breaking some generally slow monothreat cores (Porygon2+Meloetta+possibly Staravia) as well as being a great user of banded Quick Attack for clutch revenges, most notably for low-health banded Staraptor as well as Mega Lopunny. (252+ Atk Choice Band Huge Power Diggersby Quick Attack vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Mega Lopunny: 133-157 (49 - 57.9%) -- 97.7% chance to 2HKO) (252+ Atk Choice Band Huge Power Diggersby Quick Attack vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Staraptor: 169-201 (54.3 - 64.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO). It generally uses Earthquake, Return, Quick Attack, and Superpower/Wild Charge, for coverage of Staravia and non-Fighting neutral Normals, respectively. A problem with Diggersby is that it’s generally slow, and if Quick Attack can’t kill something that’s faster than it, chances are that thing will be very able to kill Diggersby. Some examples are healthy Lopunny, healthy Staraptor, and fast Meloetta. With all the Lopunny Fake Out damage as well as Brave Bird recoil Staraptor takes, Diggersby is a fine member of any Monothreat Normal team.

Replays:
For extra replays of Normal Monothreat, search for replays from the username "Threat Normal"
1. Ticken vs Sakis
~ Normal Monothreat Analysis brought to you by average fella ~​
- Misaka's personal favorite to use in Poison Monothreats. Scolipede is able to run Swords Dance to increase its Attack stat greatly. But really, it's not all that make Scolipede shine. What makes Scolipede great is its access to coverage moves such as Rock Slide, Earthquake, and Speed Boost. Rock Slide is great for dealing with pesky Golbat, Crobat, and Venomoth. It can also be used to cause flinches as a plus. Earthquake hits Drapion, Nidoking, Nidoqueen, and every other Pokemon that are weak to it. Speed Boost can be very helpful in outspeeding Choice Scarf Pokemon along with Jolly Crobat so you're free to go for an Adamant nature instead. Protect is also a good way in order to scout the opposing Pokemon and get a free Speed Boost. If running Swords Dance, it's recommended that Focus Sash is used so that Scolipede can have a safer time to set up. Many players can be unprepared for the storm if they're not careful enough.
- Gengar has an excellent Special Attack and Speed stat along with running a variety of moves, making it very unpredictable. But the most commonly move it'll run would be Psychic. Gengar can function well with Choice Scarf to be a good revenge killer or a Life Orb attacker to get more damage output. Uncommonly enough, Gengar can also run Destiny Bond in order to get rid of Drapion, Skuntank, or any other threat that opposes it. It should be used alongside Focus Sash. Gengar can also run Will-O-Wisp + Focus Sash in order to get a burn on Drapion, Skuntank, Golbat, Crobat, Scolipede, and Mega Venusaur, as they all use physical sets.
- Drapion acts more of a wallbreaker having Swords Dance as its set up move. Despite having a mediocre Speed stat, Drapion is not a threat to look down upon. With its Dark typing, it can switch-in on Gengar and Venomoth's Psychic attack. Usually, it runs items such as Air Balloon to avoid any Ground-type moves. Lum Berry keeps it from being hit by any status moves such as Gengar's Will-O-Wisp and Venomoth's Sleep Powder. Choice Scarf gives Drapion more Speed to outpace Gengar, Choice Scarf Nidoking, and Crobat.
- Nidoking is another powerhouse that is able to punch holes into opposing teams. Having Sheer Force + Life Orb to deal an enormous amount of damage. Besides Earth Power hitting the majority of Pokemon such as Drapion, Nidoqueen, Skuntank, and opposing Nidokings, it has a variety of coverage moves such as Ice Beam for Crobat, Fire Blast, Sucker Punch, and Thunderbolt. All moves that are useful in checking Crobat, Golbat, Venomoth, Scolipede, and Gengar. Nidoking also runs Focus Sash and can use that to its advantage in setting up Stealth Rock for team support. Or, it can also be an effective revenge killer with Choice Scarf. At rare times, Nidoking would also run Taunt as a way to check Mega Venusaur that tends to use it as a setup fodder with Curse. However, Nidoking would need to be wary of Scolipede and Gengar.
- Aside from Nidoking, this is pretty much your main Pokemon you'll be setting up Stealth Rock with. It's your main hazard setter. Nidoqueen would be using Focus Sash in order to survive any incoming powerful ground move from Nidoking or any other threat, which guarantees that Stealth Rock is on the opposing side. Nidoqueen also runs Taunt against Mega Venusaur and opposing Nidoqueens as well. Usually it's rather offensive so max Speed and Special Attack are the way to go.
- Golbat, the alternative to Crobat, this is your little Eviolite Pokemon. Golbat mainly acts more of a blanket for physical and special attacks. It's really not recommended for you to switch it in on an incoming Ice Beam from a Nidoking. Golbat can also act as a reliable Defogger of entry hazards and can check Mega Venusaur with with Taunt. With its Flying typing and access to Roost, Golbat cab definitely be a great asset to your team.
- Crobat is very awesome due to having both Defog and Taunt. With Crobat's amazing speed and Taunt can really put a stop to many Pokemon that tend to set up. Most notably Venomoth, Mega Venusaur, Nidoking, Nidoqueen, Golbat, and opposing Crobats. The only reason why I didn't mention Scolipede was due to Speed Boost. Crobat can run either Brave Bird or Acrobatics. If you enjoy power more, go for Brave Bird. If you prefer no recoil, go for Acrobatics. If you're planning on using Acrobatics Crobat, it's better to use no item for it due to the double damage the attack gets. You can go for a Choice Band Crobat with Brave Bird, Zen Headbutt, U-turn, and Pursuit. Or you can use a utility Crobat with Defog, Taunt, Roost and Acrobatics/Brave Bird.
- Venomoth is pretty underrated in a way, but that doesn't make it any less of a threat. It can practically be a dangerous sweeper with Quiver Dance. With the help of Sleep Powder, Venomoth can get free turns upon setting up. With Quiver Dance under its possession, Venomoth can plow through opposing teams given that their Focus Sash is broken. Venomoth wouldn't need to run Wonder Skin due to the lack of Pokemon that can inflict status moves on poison, so feel free to use Tinted Lens instead. Many Pokemon are able to check Venomoth. Examples include Crobat, Mega Venusaur, Scolipede, and Nidoking.
- A threat that everybody needs to be prepared for as well. Mega Venusaur isn't your typical and average Pokemon that tries to stall. In this format, it'll try and set up on you with Curse. The move makes Mega Venusaur more of a physical tank and a physical hard hitter. So instead, you can run a Careful nature to take special attacks better. With Thick Fat, Mega Venusaur has no fear from Life Orb Nidoking's Ice Beam or Fire Blast. It has access to Earthquake to hit the majority of the threats. Also, it gets Knock Off, which gives your team some great utility along with checking Gengar. Synthesis is a helpful asset to recover more health in order to set up Curse once more. However, Mega Venusaur is vulnerable going against Crobat if it doesn't set up enough Curse before then. Also beware of Taunt Pokemon, as this severely hinders Mega Venusaur and keeps it from setting up or recovering any health.
- Weezing is an excellent physical wall, ready to take on the likes of Scolipede, Mega Venusaur, Crobat, Drapion, and Skuntank. It has access to Will-O-Wisp, which can really cripple the physical attackers. Even though it doesn't have any relevant recovery outside of Pain Split, it has access to Clear Smog against Pokemon that intend to set up upon it. Even though it's rather a rare case for Weezing, it could also run Memento to completely lower the opposing threat's Attack and Special Attack by two stages, giving a member of your team to set up without taking major damage or set up freely while the other Pokemon is being switched out. Let's not forget that with Levitate, it can become a great switch into predicted Earthquakes or Earth Powers. Be wary of Weezing's mediocre Special Defense. It makes an easy target for Nidoking, Gengar, Venomoth, and Nidoqueen to eliminate.
Replays:
For extra replays of Poison Monothreat, search for replays from the username "Threat Poison"
1. Misaka Mikoto vs Paleo (Kind of Haxy)
~ Poison Monothreat Analysis brought to you by Misaka Mikoto ~
- Alakazam's high speed, high special attack and good coverage coupled with it's ability (Magic Guard) make it a very good pokemon in monothreat psychic. Focus sash lets it stop or revenge kill deadly threats (most notably Hoopa-Unbound) by either paralyzing them or just K.O them if they are weakened enough. Good moves include it's typical coverage: Shadow Ball and Signal Beam; and other options such as Thunder Wave (To paralyze a target you can't OHKO) and Encore (Interesting option to play around with your opponent as set-up and sucker punch pokemon are common here. You can lock them in one of those moves and grab momentum or spread paralysis)
- Slowbro is a good counter to physical pokemon used in monothreat and can threaten them with thunder wave or a scald burn. Good items for it are: Rocky helmet to act as a "U-Turn Punch Bag" that can deal damage everytime they hit it or Colbur berry to take knock off with more ease and also, survive a hit from pokemon such as Hoopa-Unbound and paralyze it or hit it with Signal Beam. Slowbro could also work on a trick room team with it's decent special attack and with the coverage it gets, it can hit almost all, if not all pokemon by SE damage.
- Mew is the most unpredictable pokemon and it is hard to play around it. It can run almost everything. The most common set includes Swords Dance, Knock off, Shadow claw/Roost and Sucker punch, however, your creativity can go to the infinity and beyond when using mew. You can use from a rock polish weakness policy mew to a choice scarf or trick room mew. It is completely up to you and your team's needs.
- Its special defense paired up with an assault vest and regeneration, let it counter a lot of special offensive threats. He differentiates from meloetta for the capability to phaze opposing pokemon with dragon tail, preventing the set-up. Slowking is better for hazard stacking teams to weaken opposing pokemon faster.
- Wobbuffet, with shadow tag it let's you choose the pokemon you want out, it can do that by using the combination of Mirror Coat/Counter or get a priority Destiny Bond if you're using a custap berry and if your HP is below 25%.
- Metagross is another pokemon that can be diverse, however, the best set is arguably assault vest as it can trap the pokemon it can beat, such as Lati@s, Alakazam, Jirachi and Meloetta (which can barely 3 OHKO Metagross with their most common sets; Life Orb; Focus Sash; Choice Scarf; Assault vest; respectively.) while it can OHKO some of them with the combination of Pursuit/Meteor Mash and bullet punch, which can let it pick off weakened threats.
- Latios is mostly used to remove hazards with defog, it should be used on teams that don't rely on hazards way too much so you can remove them at any moment. It can opt for an offensive defogger or a more supportive defogger as it has got interesting moves such as Memento, Tailwind and Light Screen/Reflect.
- It should be mainly used as a scarf pokemon to weaken the opposing team with u-turn while also gaining momentum (If hazards are up it'll be much easier) and then flinch everyone with Iron head. If jirachi is weak enough or is not useful anymore it can just use healing wish to recover a teammate.
- One of the three best leads for psychic. Due to its high speed it can outspeed up to base 100 scarfed pokemon. It can set up Stealth rock, Spikes and prevent defog with taunt and also, hit rapid spinners with a strong knock off. It is recommended on offensive teams which can mantain the momentum and also apply pressure on the opposing team.
- A bulkier and also, slower version of Deoxys-S but it makes itself a spot because of its bulk and utility. With mental herb, it can prevent taunt for 1 turn and retaliate with its own taunt or thunder wave, in order to set up Stealth Rocks and spikes.
- Gallade is one of the best, if not the best Mega-Evolution in Psychic monothreat. With the combination of Swords Dance, Knock off and Shadow sneak it can sweep teams completely, adding that he can find for himself a turn to set up easily with either taunt, encore or substitute. All teams should prepare for this because if not, gallade will have a lot of fun.
- Lead sets aren't recommended because they are outclassed by Deoxys-S and there are better ways to exploit its potential. Choice scarf or Life orb sets are the way to go. With Choice scarf, it can threaten more offensive teams due to it's high speed and access to moves such as knock off, u-turn and even explosion. If your team doesn't need the extra speed choice scarf provies, you can use a life orb set. Azelf paired up with a life orb make it a huge threat for bulkier teams as it can use its incredible physical, special attack stats and its coverage to exploit the opponent's weaknesses.
- With its raw power it can hit a lot of pokemon hard even without a choice band. Choice Scarf variants tend to create U-Turn cores with other pokemon such as jirachi to weaken the opposing team and then, finish it with its fire STAB moves. Victini can also opt for a trick room set to take advantage of V-Create's speed Drops.
- Reuniclus is one of the best pokemon for trick room teams; low speed ,decent bulk and high Special Attack. With Shadow ball and Signal Beam it can hit hard most of the pokemon while, thanks to its ability (Magic Guard) it can hold a life orb and hit even harder without recoil. Recommended includes Shadow ball, Signal Beam, Recover and Trick Room.
- Meloetta is the best counter for special attackers thanks to it's amazing special defense and typing. Viable sets for meloetta incluse Assault vest to have more ease against pokemon like Latios, Alakazam and Gardevoir-Mega. Choice Scarf is also a good item to use on meloetta as it can spam shadow ball or signal beam depending on the situation.
- Hoopa Unbound is arguably the best pokemon for psychic monothreats as it can OHKO almost everything. Hoopa-U is also a versatile pokemon so you don't know what it going to do until it shows up its set. Some good sets are: Choice scarf , Trick Room , Life orb Mixed, etc. Always be prepared for it because if you're not, it will just wreck everything in front of it.
Replays:
For extra replays of Psychic Monothreat, search for replays from the username "Threat Psychic"
1.Ticken vs Ashaury (MPL)
~ Psychic Monothreat Analysis brought to you by Zukushiku ~​
- Just like for Rock Monotype, Omastar is a top contender and normally a must need for the team whether it be Offensive or Defensive. Most often times when you see an Omastar it will be Offensive rather than Defensive in order to deal with threats like Mega Aggron and Cradily better. It has access to Hydro Pump, Scald, Surf; your choice of water move, Earth Power, and Ice Beam. Pokemon that can beat Omastar after a Shell Smash are pokemon like, Tyranitar, Cradily, Mega Aggron, and Focus Sash/Passho Berry users. For the Defensive set, people often run Scald + Hazards. This is so they can have a better chance at sweeping with Terrakion or even benefit Mega Aggron which is known to run Dragon Tail and shuffle out every pokemon as it pleases.
- Kabutops is the defeater of hazards. Really the only viable Rapid Spinner, Kabutops is can also set up it's own hazards. There are many suicide Stealth Rock users in Rock Monothreat to break all the Focus Sashes, Sturdy, etc.. Teams do not need Kabutops but it is a big boost when you have Stealth Rock up and your opponent does not. The next most used set is your average Swords Dance set with Low Kick, Waterfall, and Aqua Jet. Not much to say but the main pokemon that beats that set is Mega Aggron. The third seen set in the current metagame is going to be the Endure set. The Endure set is basically a Weakness Policy, Weak Armor, guaranteed to live at 1 HP set. This set is not reliant on hazards being gone since it is not like a Focus Sash. Although it leaves you with 1 HP, moves like Superpower, Waterfall, and Aqua Jet can do a number on any team.
- Mega Aggron is basically the pokemon everyone bases their team around either first hand or second hand. What it meant is that is some people choose not to run Mega Aggron but must prepare heavily for it a they will not have a wall against it. Mega Aggron is a natural wall against itself. Most commonly seen is the Curse RestTalk set with Iron Head or Heavy Slam. Because of this Rock Monothreat is known to be really long waiting for the two Aggron's to Struggle to death. The next set that is common is the SpDef invested Aggron with Thunder Wave, Iron Head/Heavy Slam, and Dragon Tail. This set is used to beat things like Omastar and Cradily. The final set that can be seen on Aggron is a Physically Defensive Aggron to beat other threats like Terrakion. Although the SpDef one can still beat Terrakion, the Physically Defensive one obviously would take the damage better whether the Terrakion is Choice Banded, Swords Dance, or Choice Scarfed.
- As mentioned previously, Cradily is one of the main Defensive pokemon against an Omastar. Assault Vest or SpDef investments help against more things than if it was Physically Defensive. Some Cradily's are normally used as SpDef'ive with Toxic, Recover, Giga Drain, and maybe some Earth Power for Aggron. The next common set that annoys me is the Stockpile set which is a stall set as it goes to +3 for both defenses and sits there. There are some counters to it like Mega Aggron, raising your own defenses, or even Sacred Sword which goes through stat boosts. That is also the only set viable in Lileep if you do battle one as a side note. The last set that really is not common but one that has put in work is the Assault Vest set with max Physical Defense. It can take 1 +2 Ice Beam from Omastar or it can take a Choice Scarf Terrakion's Close Combat if it is at full HP guaranteed.
- Out of every pokemon on the list for Rock Monothreat Rhyperior is the least used. One reason why Rhyperior is less used than say Mega Aggron is because basically every pokemon has a Super Effective move against it from Scald or Waterfall to Giga Drain or Close Combat. One advantage Rhyperior has is it is the only other pokemon aside from Mega Aggron that can comfortably take a Close Combat from Terrakion, thanks to Solid Rock, and either use an attack itself or set up for a sweep using Rock Polish. Rhyperior's movepool compliments both it's Defensive and Offensive presence it has once it go out on the field. Metal Burst, Endeavor for the defensive moves and Iron Head, Earthquake, Rock Polish, and Superpower for the offensive.
- The third most commonly seen Water-Rock type Pokemon is none other than Carracosta. This phenomenal Pokemon never does minimal damage. Just like a few Pokemon for other types, like Entei or Torkoal for Fire Monothreat, Carracosta is mainly known for one set which is Shell Smash + Weakness Policy. Thanks to it's amazing ability being Sturdy, Carracosta can survive any attack, except from the mythical Rampardos, and get +2 boosts to both it's Physical and Special attacks basically sweeping the opponent. The main moves Carracosta uses, aside from Shell Smash, are Aqua Jet, Waterfall/Hydro Pump, Earthquake, and even Superpower. Aqua Jet is the priority attack to combat a potential Quick Attack Terrakion. Hydro Pump s normally preferred by many as it damages Mega Aggron a quite a bit more than Waterfall would. The two toss up moves are Earthquake and Superpower as Superpower KO's Cradily, which is known to "check" Carracosta, but on the other hand Earthquake is used if you do not want to lower any of your stats although you are at +4 Attack and have some room to play with.
- Terrakion is the prime speed control Pokemon on any Offensive Rock Monothreat team. With access to the potential dual dance, Rock Polish + Swords Dance, Terrakion can basically sweep teams as long as the opposing Focus Sashes or Sturdy abilities are broken previously. The dual dance set is most commonly run with Close Combat and Iron Head/Substitute, even though Close Combat can KO any Pokemon without needing Iron Head. Other more common sets other than dual dance is the Choice Scarf or Choice Banded sets which require nothing more than clicking that Close Combat button. The Choice Band set is on teams with Sticky Web while Choice Scarf is on more standard based HO Rock. No matter what set you use, Terrakion is a big threat to all. Some "checks" to Terrakion, depending on the set, are Rhyperior, Mega Diancie, a Focus Sash, and the ability Sturdy.
Replays:
For extra replays of Rock Monothreat, search for replays from the username "Threat Rock"
1. Ticken vs Snowyyy (MPL)
2. Zukushiku vs SWL Eric
~ Rock Monothreat Analysis brought to you by Ticktick ~​
- Why does Skarmory carry a Shed Shell? It’s because of these beasts. They fulfill similar roles, as their speed tier is less of a problem in Monothreat Steel, although sometimes people REALLY want to outspeed the other Mag, so Magneton is run. Mostly, they’re just trappers, faster ones with a less good defensive typing compared to Probopass. (at least by Monothreat Steel standards)
- The first thing you will need to know about Monothreat Steel is that this meta is Heatran’s world and we are all just living in it. Simple as that. There are zero switchins to Balloon Heatran except for... another Balloon Heatran. The moves are usually all the same, Flamethrower for reliable kills, Earth Power for balloon-popped Heatrans, Fire Blast for a more powerful killing move, and a move that can be literally anything to pop Heatran balloons! The optimal pick for this is Dark Pulse thanks to its flinch chance, allowing you a sweet 5% chance to win in Heatran v Heatran if you’re popped and they aren’t, as well as a 55% chance to win in Heatran v Heatran if neither of you are popped (and your opponent doesn't have Dark Pulse) (there is a 2.5% chance that you emerge from the duel un-popped as well!). Popped v. Popped is still always 50%. You obviously run max Speed to never get straight up out sped, and max special attack to have no switch ins on Steel. Iron Head is another possible pick for a fourth move for a higher flinch chance, but you REALLY do not want to be inviting every Steel Pokemon not named Heatran to switch in. Not everyone will risk a Speed tie.
- This is one of the main offensive threats, however, it is much easier to switch into than Heatran's Fire type moves. It can usually run either a physical or special set, the physical set is easy for Skarmory to switch into, and the special set is easy for the odd specially defensive mon to switch into. (It can also run a mean Nasty Plot set, but things that wall Scarf Aura Sphere Luke tend to wall NP Luke)
- How do you beat Sturdy gimmicks and Sash users while your Heatran is trying to clean teams? How do you beat Ground move spammers? How do you discourage people from throwing around their Lucario's Close Combat's willy-nilly? Enter Skarmory! Basically, its task is to hard wall most Earthquake users, and stack up some hazards. Stealth Rock is helpful to fight other Skarmories that try to use their Sturdy to pop your Heatran's balloon, and Spikes is very useful in general to rack up damage.
- How do you stop your trusty Spikes from being spun away (Yes, I have seen people try to use Forretress+Sturdy spam)? How do you stop Scarfed special Lucario? Enter Doublade! This... doesn't actually do that much beyond providing defensive synergy. It really doesn't. You'd expect it to be an amazing Swords Dance sweeper that tears through Lucario spam, but all it really does is force 50/50's with Lucario and scout Lucario movesets. Sacred Sword does a number to most of the mons in this metagame on switchin, although more often than not it's a free Skarmory switchin.
- This beast can trap Balloon Heatran and pop its balloon. You can only bring it in on a sack, but if Heatran kills a mon, Magnet Pull will keep it in, and Air Balloon will prevent Earth Power from killing it. Yes, the meta for this monothreat is silly enough that you use a mon specifically to DO A BIT OF DAMAGE to the best mon.
- This mon can basically take one of any move with a specially defensive spread thanks to Filter and retaliate with Earthquake for an easy kill. Problem is, it cannot force you to stay in, and Skarmory just so happens to be a hard stop to it. Use this sparingly at the correct times, and it can be a fantastic addition to your team.
- Generally outclassed by Lucario, but has a few niches over it. A better speed tier for Swords Dance, generally has the moveslot space to run Magnet Rise, and is more physically bulky. It can’t touch Doublade, though, and it’s slightly less powerful than Lucario. It doesn’t even get Night Slash, or even Foresight. I would use Lucario before you consider Cobalion.
- The fastest mon in Monothreat Steel, it can effectively set up Substitutes and set up Hone Claws on mons it scares out, chief among them Heatran. It’s unreliable and somewhat predictable, but if you get a Hone Claws behind a Substitute off, nothing can resist Crunch+Superpower.
~ Steel Monothreat Analysis brought to you by average fella ~
- Loudicolo has always been known to be more of a special attacker. Instead, Loudicolo is better off being a physical attacker in this format, as it has access to Swords Dance. The two moves that it needs to pose a threat are Seed Bomb and Thunder Punch. Thunder Punch especially gets rid of Tentacruel and Gyarados a lot easier. Drain Punch is also used to replenish its health. Usually, it would run the item Life Orb, as a way to deal even more damage. This works even better with Drain Punch. But it's certainly not unstoppable. Tail Glow Manaphy and Sludge Bomb Tentacruel are useful checks for it.
- Pretty much your usual everyday setup sweeper. With Tail Glow, Manaphy can be one hard-hitting attacker. Having access to Signal Beam to eliminate Loudicolo. There, you have Energy Ball for basically every every Pokemon to smack with. Finally there is Hidden Power Electric to check Gyarados, Tentacruel, and Empoleon. Quagsire can be an okay check to Manaphy because of Unaware but wouldn't recommend it from its 4x weakness to Energy Ball.
- Tentacruel is really helpful. Many players like to run Giga Drain on their Pokemon for Monothreat Water so its ability Liquid Ooze makes Tentacruel a great switch-in on these moves. With the main entry hazard remover being Empoleon, Tentacruel can freely set up Toxic Spikes to wear down the opposing team much faster. If you are stuck yourself, fear not. Tentacruel can be of great asset in removing them upon switching in. Let's not overlook its Poison typing and Special Defense stat either. This makes Tentacruel a nice switch-in for incoming Energy Ball and Giga Drain. Tentacruel usually runs Giga Drain for it to stay longer in battle and Sludge Bomb for Loudicolo. Running Calm nature allows for Tentacruel to survive 3 hits from Choice Specs Lapras Freeze-Dry most of the time and survive 2 hits from a Modest Lanturn's Thunderbolt.
- Lapras is very helpful due to its great coverage in movepool. It can certainly act as a great offensive attacker because of Thunderbolt, Hidden Power Ground, and most importantly, Freeze-Dry. This move is Lapras's niche in the format because no other threat is resistant to the move and it hits almost every Water-type super effectively. Keep this in mind because Freeze-Dry OHKO's Ludicolo, Quagsire, regular Gyarados, and rarely Rotom-W. Choice Specs is usually the most common item to use on Lapras to strengthen its damage output to obtain crucial KO's.
- Your Electric immunity! With Volt Absorb as its ability, Lanturn can be a great Electric absorber to switch into any predicted Electric-type move such as Volt Switch, Hidden Power Electric, and Thunder Wave. Usually, Lanturn would run Signal Beam, Hidden Power Grass, Volt Switch, and Thunderbolt. With Lanturn's mediocre Speed stat, it's great for bringing in teammates safely on a slow Volt Switch. As for its choice of items, it can run either Assault Vest as a way to take special attacks better or Choice Specs. With Lanturn being the more offensive type in this metagame, both of these items should be used.
- Nothing really changed from this monster. This is also your sweeper in Monothreat Water. The only difference is that Mega Gyarados doesn't run Waterfall or Ice Fang, as both are pretty useless in this format. Mega Gyarados would either run Dragon Dance +3 attacks or it can go for a Dragon Dance set with Rest + Sleep Talk and Crunch.
- Ah yes, Rotom-W in definitely inflict Will-O-Wisp burns on every single threat, especially physical attackers if they're a problem. Rotom-W can really provide great momentum with Volt Switch, having its teammates switch-in safely while dishing out some damage. It also can cripple other threats with Choice Scarf, that way, they're completely locked into a move. Having Levitate under its possession it can freely avoid any poison status from Toxic Spikes.
- This Pokemon pretty much fits on any team honestly. Keldeo provides a wonderful check / counter to Gyarados along with its Mega Evolution due to Hidden Power Electric and Secret Power, and let's not forget its Fighting typing gives it a resist to Crunch. Additionally, Keldeo can run a Calm Mind set as well. As its choice of items it can use either Choice Specs or Leftovers.
- This buffed Pokemon won't necessarily be using Huge Power at all. Rather, it'll be utilizing its other ability Sap Sipper to grant Azumarill immunity to Grass-type moves, which make a great switch-in to Ludicolo and Manaphy. Let's not forget that Sap Sipper boosts Azumarill's Attack stat as an added bonus. Azumarill can function pretty well with Choice Band.
- Empoleon is another special defensive Pokemon just like Tentacruel. With its impressive bulk it can switch into many special attacks. Its steel typing gives neutral damage against any Grass-type attack, a Freeze-Dry from Lapras, and an immunity to Sludge Bomb from Tentacruel along with Toxic Spikes. Empoleon can also be used as a reliable entry hazard remover with Defog and can stop sweepers from setting up with Roar.
Replays:
For extra replays of Water Monothreat, search for replays from the username "Threat Water"
~ Water Monothreat Analysis brought to you by Misaka Mikoto ~
 
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Ticken

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B101 Leader
Type Expert:
(Directly off the OP)
Type Expert is the introduction of the Monothreat Monthly transferring from most side servers to the main server for recognition into MPL. Unlike the Monothreat Monthly, where there were three consequent Monothreat Tournaments, there will be 1 Monothreat Tournament on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, respectively for 6 weeks within the newly acquired Monotype Events Room! The Monothreat Tournaments will start ~5PM EST after the OM Tournament has finished. Each participant will have the whole week leading up to the Monothreat to make and perfect their teams. There will be not Team Scouting but Team Switching and Team Editing are allowed.
First Place - 5 points / Second Place - 3 points / Third Places - 1 Point each
~Monothreat Type Schedule and Player Score Sheet~
* Tournament Organizers: Misaka Mikoto and Ticktick (Ticken) *

Type Expert will be starting on Friday September 23rd at 11AM and 5PM EST.

The Type Expert description located in the OP is a general description how the tournament will be ran. Within this post will be specifics on how to enter the tournament, how the tournament will progress, and what to expect througout the event.

Additional Information to the OP description:
There will be two Monothreat Tournaments ran in the Monotype Events room, type in /join me, that will be ran by Misaka and I, me, or just Misaka. Only one type will be played each day. For example on Friday the 23rd, the only type that will be ran in the Monotype Events room will be Electric as shown on the Monothreat Type Schedule and Player Score Sheet.

Why are there two tournaments of the same type in one day?
The plain and simple answer is consistancy. One tournament for each type does not actually prove if someone is "better" at that particular type. It eliminates RNG such as an Ice Beam freeze or an unfortunate critical hit. Not only that but it proves a tournament for participants in more awkward timezones so they do not have to play at 3AM.

What happens with the two winners? Do they get the same amount of points?
The winners of both Tournaments will be placed into a Grand Battle. A Grand Battle is a featured match for that type. This is the only battle that participants can change any sets they wish to. It is not counter teaming as both are allowed to change. As the winners are both battling there will obviously be a winner and a loser so it does not make sense that they will get the same amount of points. This will be the 2 point diference between 1st and 2nd place finishers. Semisfinalists in each tourney will get no points due to this addition. The Grand Battle has one week to determine a winner. If neither makes any arrangements without proof, they will both get 3 points each. Lastly, the replay must be saved from both final rounds to be worth the points. Misaka or I will write before the battle begins "Finals Match" or "Grand Battle" as the Grand Battle is a Bo1.

The winner of the first tournement that same day may NOT participate in the later one.​
 
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Ticken

Lotad & Bulbasaur Enthusiast
is a Top Tutoris a Tournament Directoris a Top Social Media Contributoris a Top Artistis a Programmeris a Member of Senior Staffis a Community Contributoris a Top Tiering Contributoris a Smogon Media Contributoris a Dedicated Tournament Host
B101 Leader
Thank you to all of those participants who entered each and every Type Expert tournament for the past 6 weeks! This post is here to congratulate those who won either a Grand Battle or Top 3... or even both!​

Grand Battle Winners:
Week 1:
Electric: Ticktick (Myself)
Dragon: Zyo
Flying: Ticktick (Myself)

Week 2:
Fighting: czim *Replay was not saved so could not be proven
Rock: Ticktick (Myself)
Fairy: Moosical (torkool)

Week 3:
Fire: Ticktick (Myself)
Dark: Moosical (torkool)
Steel: Redenstien (Bysshe)

Week 4:
Water: Ticktick (Myself)
Normal: The Excadrill (iExca)
Bug: terrors


Week 5:
Ice: Moosical (torkool)
Psychic: terrors
Grass: Ticktick (Myself)

Week 6:
Ground: czim *Replay was saved but was not satisfactory
Ghost: Ticktick (Myself)
Poison: Ticktick (Myself)

Again, congratulations to all 7 participants for winning each Grand Battle; it was a pleasure to watch all 17! Now for the Top 3!

Top 3 Type Expert Winners:
1. Ticken (61 Points)
2. torkool (23 points)
3. terrors (14 points)

There will be another event around January 2017!
 
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