RMT: Mono-Type & Mono-Chrome

My friends are having a Start of Summer series of Pokemon Tournaments. This is for the Mono-type Tournament. I decided to make it a little harder for my self and incorporate a theme of all blue Pokemon as well. We are allowed one wild card of any type per team and we can use as many teams as we see fit. I plan on using this team for the first few rounds of the tournament. I chose mono-Water with Garchomp as my Wild Card. Since this is a match against friends, we are sticking to the standard battle clauses and we decided that Latias and Garchomp are allowed for these matches.

Though it won't be as competitive as the shoddy ladder, I still want a strict rate. Specifically, some remarks on offensive type coverage.


THE TEAM:



Garchomp (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Veil
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Outrage / Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Crunch

This is my standard Garchomp set. For the purposes of the tournament, I am using my Wild Card to inflict huge sums of damage early on. Basically, Scoob will come in and dance, then start rending. Earthquake is STAB and Crunch is for Pokemon like Metagross and Bronzong. Dragon Claw would give me a solid 2nd STAB attack that doesn’t lock me into a thrash BUT with Leftovers > Life Orb, Outrage’s extra power could prove more useful. Typically, I run Outrage.



Lanturn (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 40 HP/76 Def/140 SAtk/252 SDef
Calm nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Surf
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Thunder Wave

Mono-Water needs some solid Electric-resist. Thunder Wave is great for the rest of the team and the coverage from Surf, Ice Beam, and Thunderbolt allows me to pick on weaknesses. The EVs and Nature are designed for some sponging.



Starmie @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Trick

Starmie has the same coverage as Lanturn but is geared toward revenge killing rather than sponging. Trick is for those gnar-gnar Blissey or whatever that want to wall me.



Vaporeon (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 188 HP/252 Def/68 Spd
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Wish
- Protect
- Hidden Power [Electric]
- Heal Bell

I feel that I’ve covered the Water-type offensive coverage pretty well. HP: Elec is to damage other Water-types, namely Gyarados. Heal Bell and Wish are for the benefit of the others on the team.



Gyarados (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 156 HP/72 Atk/96 Def/184 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall / Ice Fang
- Stone Edge / Earthquake
- Bounce

Bulky Gyarados gives me a bit of defense against the Grass-attacks. Bounce is a strong STAB and nets me a free turn of Lefties gain. Waterfall seems a bit redundant on this type of team so I may consider dropping it. Ice Fang and Earthquake has decent coverage as well as giving me a little something different in terms of offensive typing.



Swampert (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: [censored (illegal)]
EVs: 252 HP/40 Def/216 SDef
Careful nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Curse
- Waterfall
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Swampert is my hulking monster. Once I remove any Water Absorb/Dry Skin Pokemon, this guy can set-up and steamroll over teams. This guy benefits from the paralysis spread by Lanturn. Originally, I was going to plan on this Pokemon being a Stealth Rock Mixpert but I realized that the team needed more bulk.

Modest over Timid on Starmie... it really needs the power and still outruns Jolly max speed +1 Salamence even with a Modest Nature (It rests at 329 Speed, Salamence at 328)

Stone Edge, Waterfall, Bounce for Gyarados... gives the best coverage and helps you with Zapdos and other flying types with the extra power from stone edge.

I've always thought Crunch on Garchomp is redundant... Outrage hit's Cresselia and other bulky Psychics harder, and if you are worried about bronzong then use fire fang... but since your team counters skarmory and bronzong well, I'd actually suggest Substitute in that set and pair it with a Salac berry. That's just a little personal preference, but I think you my find it a lot more useful than Crunch is in most Situations. Another Option is Stone Edge so you can hit bulky flyers, like Zapdos and Gyarados, hard without having to lock yourself into Outrage.

Vaporeon needs some kind of STAB move... you have lanturn, starmie, your gyarados etc... for other gyarados so I don't see the necessity of HP [Electric]... If you want to handle opposing bulky waters, run this set -

Vaporeon @ Leftovers
188 HP / 68 Speed / 252 Def
Bold Nature... +Def, -Attack
~Toxic
~Protect/Roar
~Wish
~Surf

This way you can support the team with Wish, still, but also severely cripple bulky waters. Roar is a great move for temporarily getting rid of Crocune, who gives this team trouble. It also helps against opposing vaporeons which give your Swampert trouble

Roger that, Shnoogle. I'll be playtesting your suggestions soon. Are there any other comments?