[OU Monotype] Razing Empires

[NickCrash]

Welcome to yet another RMT of mine! This time we are discussing Monotype! As you may know, OU Monotype is a tier in which all your pokemon must share a common type. Dual-typed pokemon are allowed, and almost anything can be used. Some exceptions include incredibly powerful pokemon that can break the metagame. However, certain Ubers are allowed in monotype. Enjoy the RMT.

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Alright, usually Monotype team archetypes vary based on the type itself, as some types favor certain playstyles over others. Here we go for Ground, which is arguably one of the most versatile Monotypes and are working with Bulky Offense that has certain win conditions. It's mainly a brawl team in which some play the roles of the tanks and others try to get in there in opportune moments to sweep or at least deal with certain key threats your opponent may have. Without further delay, I shall introduce the members.

Crocodile (Hippowdon) @ Leftovers

Ability: Sand Stream

EVs: 252 HP / 144 Def / 112 SpD

Impish Nature

- Stealth Rock

- Earthquake

- Slack Off

- Stone Edge

Alright, the one everyone expected. The Mother of Hippos!! This one is my primary tank, SR setter and troll method of dealing with the ever common Zard Y, since it lives the Solarbeam and OHKOs with Stone Miss. It can take both physical and special hits thanks to its bulk, and dish some damage without real investment. Apart from Rocks it also sets Sand for extra residual damage and a chance for Excadrill to sweep later in the game. It needs constant recovery though, so I tossed Smooth rock for lefties.

Jack (Mamoswine) @ Choice Band

Ability: Thick Fat

EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe

Jolly Nature

- Ice Shard

- Earthquake

- Knock Off

- Icicle Crash

Starting to see a pattern in nicknames? This one is the priority user that's also resistant to Ice and gets neutral damage from fire, thanks to its ability. Used mostly mid to late-game to clear threats, punch holes in enemy teams, and single-handedly stop set-up sweepers in their tracks, from time to time. Also, Knock off is nice to have when you deal with Ghost or Normal monotypes. Few pokemon can resist the dual STAB, and Mamo does not stay long in the battlefield to threaten different pokemon. The basic idea is to hit as hard as you can, and whatever takes the hit either does not survive, or is fresh meat for the next pokemon.

Akainu (Camerupt-Mega) @ Cameruptite

Ability: Sheer Force

EVs: 248 HP / 192 SpA / 68 SpD

Modest Nature

IVs: 0 Atk

- Fire Blast

- Earth Power

- Ancient Power

- Will-O-Wisp

The obligatory mega of the team. I chose Camerupt because it's a mega that sees little love in the competitive scene, and also because Ground has few good special attackers. I'm still mad about it not getting Slack Off. Oh well...

Camerupt is the best special wallbreaker the tier has to offer, perhaps with the exception of ZardY. Any move you use will inflict good damage thanks to the combination of: a huge special attack + STAB + Sheer Force boost + possible weakness. Yep, you may not stay long enough in the field, but you WILL take something down with you when you do. It's my best option to deal with Stall, apart from Knock Off from Mamo, and it can also stop certain attackers with WoW, since Camerupt has enough bulk to live a hit or two. Did I mention that Ancientpower gets boosted as well from Sheer Force making it a 90 base power special rock move?

Pica (Nidoking) @ Choice Scarf

Ability: Sheer Force

EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

Modest Nature

- Earth Power

- Sludge Wave

- Ice Beam

- Thunderbolt

From the slowest pokemon to the fastest, Nidoking is a strong creature that uses the same trait as Camerupt, only it's locked in one move, but has an incredible movepool and speed. It's used as a revenge killer or a late-game sweeper. Sometimes it can be brought into the field to apply pressure on mons that could run a potentially threatening set to my whole team. Never forget this is monotype, so some teams will always be more threatening than others except for grass teams of course . Nido may not have the best SpA stat, but it can finish a weakened pokemon off, given the chance. It's also nice to have a special attacker that can prove itself at all points in a game.

Hack (Gastrodon) @ Leftovers

Ability: Storm Drain

EVs: 248 HP / 72 SpA / 188 SpD

Calm Nature

IVs: 0 Atk

- Toxic

- Scald

- Earth Power

- Recover

I'm sure you all know Water types are well-rounded to deal with almost anything in this meta. Gastrodon makes a Water weakness into a mystical power that makes it a decent special attacker as well as the main special wall that spreads Toxic and Burns. It's supposed to outlive your worst opponents, burn the sweepers and toxic the stallers. An all around mon that's crucial for the team. Almost any other member can take a physical attack, so I gave the Def investment to SpA for this one. As I said above, in case of a Water attack, Scald and Earth Power suddenly become decent coverage options.

Daz Bones (Excadrill) @ Life Orb

Ability: Sand Rush

EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe

Adamant Nature

- Swords Dance

- Earthquake

- Iron Head

- Rock Slide

Finally, the ultimate win condition. Excadrill is a marvel Gen5 brought to us, which can take multiple variations of the same role in a team, but here it's just the savage killer. Sand Rush pushes its speed into enormous levels and helps me turn the tables when faced with a setup sweeper or a scarfer. Nice coverage options with the option to flinch, as well as a SD in case something refuses to die. I do not really care about Rapid Spin, since Ground naturally resists rocks, the game flows fast so spikes won't have much time to be set, and sticky web is so rare I'm not even threatened by it. He's the most offensive mon and usually reserved for last.

So that's basically it. A big team, tested with members coming in and out, but it ended up with this. So, what do you say? Naturally every monotype team has room for improvement, and I'd love to see your suggestions. Check it and try it yourself.

I'll be expecting your input for this one.

If you haven't already, start monotyping! It's lots of fun and you learn how to use and respect certain underused pokemon more.

[Tomas Elliot]

Iffy about two choicers, since you rely on Exca for speed I think you can afford recoil-less LO on Nido for the extra (and much needed) power.

If Gastrodon cannot time its switch right again Belly Drum Azumarill, the rabbit is then 100% guaranteed to destroy your team. And Megazard-Y scores a kill every time it succesfully comes in, if they don't fuck up predictions. These are the sole two flaws I see, but they are big ones, although I can't see many solutions in a mono Ground...

[NickCrash]

I'm currently testing LO Nidoking. It makes good use of the extra power but its speed does not allow it to work as intended.

Do you think a change in mega for M-Garchomp would benefit the team? I made it with M-Camerupt in mind, but I'm not sure how well he fares.

[Tomas Elliot]

Mega Chomp is faster and, in sand, provides added firepower, and has the stats to go mixed for some serious damage output. This being said, the damage output in question is really sand-centric, and with only one sand setter, I don't think it would be that wise to make the change. Sure, it partially helps against Azumarill (Aqua Jet Cannot OHKO Mega Chomp if it is at full health, and Chomp is faster so it can murder the rabbit before it gets to use Play Rough), but... Well, that's all it does. I honestly don't know if your problems would be solved or not with this change, I guess the only way to find out is to try... I recommend an EV spread of 16 Atk - 240 SpAtk - 252+ Spe (-SpDef), with Swords Dance, Earthquake, Stone Edge and Fire Blast. This makes it virtually impossible for any Pokemon to switch in safely against such a beast (you have an Atk stat of 380 with just 16 EV, and Sand Force, if sand is up, boosts the damage output of both your physical moves, while Fire Blast dispatches Skarmory and Ferrothorn), but you must be very careful with the timing of your SD.

[NickCrash]

Alright. I'll make any updates if I find something better. Thank you for the suggestions.

[SJMistery]

It would be better to give the Life Orb to Mamoswine. The extra power is rarely needed and being able to switch moves might help a lot: for example, using Earthquake to kill oposing Hippowdon after hitting it with Icicle Crash, and viceversa.

This sounds trivial but it means you can force out a steel type like Steelix by clicking Earthquake while STILL being able to 2HKO Hippowdon, being able to force out Heatran without becoming total Charizard bait, etc. It also lets him to finish off Keldeo with an Ice Shard after hitting him on the switch with Earthquake.

Removing the choice scarf on Nidoking instead would render your team too slow and too weak against fast cleaners like Latios, Dugtrio or Starmie.

and speaking of speed, i also advocate in favor of removing Camerupt. I feel something like Agility+Substitute baton passer Gliscor would benefit a lot nidoking and mamoswine, fixing their mediocre speed and letting them rampage on the oposing team without resistance with their amazing STAB coverage in case you remove the scarf. If ferrothorn becomes a problem with Camerupt out, simply run Superpower instead of Knock Off. Not like Mamoswine should be wasting his time knocking off items when he can simply knock out enemies directly. Sadly Ground has little to no good megas, the only moderately good ones being Mega Garchomp whose speed reduction makes it inferior to regular Garchomp, and Mega Swampert, who requiring rain, is much better on the water monotypes.

Edited March 15, 2016 by SJMistery

[NickCrash]

Yes, I know that no megas are actually safe to use, but making a team without one seems to cost me more in the end, power-wise. I'm a bit iffy on using Gliscor because I don't want to stack on too many Ice weaknesses if I keep Garchomp. The boost+pass strategy works well in Poison Monos with Scolipede and Nidoking, but here it seems I must sacrifice something to bring it safely into the field. As it now is, the team has no particular problems with a certain type, even Water, thanks to Gastrodon, but it does not push forward the way it should, as it relies too much on sacking previous pokemon.

I'll look at your suggestions, and let's hope I find something that wasn't implemented before.