MonoNormal Activity

[JacobNinja]

Hi, and welcome to my newest RMT. Some of you may recognize me as a rather new lc competitive player, but I think I've gotten comfortable with the current lc metagame. I realized that Mono Typing was an option in lc I hadn't seen yet, but it had potential.

For this RMT, I won't be showing my teambuilding process, as it was basically taking the best six normal pokemon. I will, however, show how I decided on the normal type.


First, I had thought about using rock types. Why? Because they have a good deal of very dangerous Pokemon, such as Shell Smash Dwebble and Swift Swim Anorith. I also realised that there were a lot of Swift Swimmers, so rain as an option. Then I realised that a multitude of pokemon, such as Chinchou, would wall me, so I scrapped that idea.

Then I thought about flying types. Flying has a lot of powerful players, such as Wingull, Taillow, and Murkrow, and decent walls such as Mantyke. However, an electric weakness and poor coverage, along with a lack of good pokemon, stopped me from going down that route.

This brought me to the normal type. There are many powerful normal type pokemon, such as Eevee and Minccino, along with leads such as Aipom and tanks such as Polygon. Without further ado, here is the export text:

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Horny Beast (Eevee) @ Choice Band
Trait: Adaptability
Level: 5
EVs: 236 Atk / 36 HP / 236 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Iron Tail
- Bite
- Return
- Quick Attack

Wingull (Porygon) @ Eviolite
Trait: Trace
Level: 5
EVs: 236 HP / 196 Def / 76 SAtk
Bold Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Tri Attack
- Recover
- Shadow Ball

Bitchslap (Minccino) @ Life Orb
Trait: Skill Link
Level: 5
EVs: 196 Atk / 236 Spd / 76 HP
Jolly Nature
- Aqua Tail
- U-turn
- Knock Off
- Tail Slap

Speedy Gonzales (Taillow) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Guts
Level: 5
EVs: 236 Atk / 236 Spd / 36 HP
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- Quick Attack
- U-turn
- Facade

The Boss(Aipom) @ Life Orb
Trait: Pickup
Level: 5
EVs: 72 HP / 196 Atk / 236 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out
- Seed Bomb
- Return
- Brick Break

Rabbit Stew (Buneary) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Limber
Level: 5
EVs: 36 HP / 236 Atk / 236 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Return
- Drain Punch
- ThunderPunch
- Fire Punch

The Team:

Eevee
Horny Beast (Eevee) @ Choice Band
Trait: Adaptability
Level: 5
EVs: 36 HP / 236 Atk / 236 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Iron Tail
- Bite
- Return
- Quick Attack

Eevee, though it may look cute, is actually quite the powerful pokemon. With an Adaptability bonus, STAB Return hits like a truck, OHKO'ing or 2HKO'ing anything that isn't a physical wall. It doesn't really need the extra power, so the Jolly nature makes it just fast enough to win against stuff like Scraggy, as Eevee can survive a +1 Mach Punch. If you are wondering about the name, once I accidentally turned my Sandile into an Eevee without changing the names, and it sort of stuck.

Porygon

Wingull (Porygon) @ Eviolite
Trait: Trace
Level: 5
EVs: 236 HP / 196 Def / 76 SAtk
Bold Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Tri Attack
- Recover
- Shadow Ball

Porygon is the key to any mono normal Little Cup team, as it is by far the bulkiest, and is also one of the strongest Normal special attackers. Trace, along with its bulk, lets it 1v1 beat practically any weather sweeper, such as Drilbur, and then turn around to abuse that ability and demolish the rest of the opponents team. Shadow ball is vital for dealing with Ghost Types, which can be a problem, because they are immune to the STABs of most of my team. Thunder Wave and Recover can be very useful, allowing Porygon to use its bulk to recover health and keep on devastating opposing pokemon.

Minccino
Bitchslap (Minccino) @ Life Orb
Trait: Skill Link
Level: 5
EVs: 76 HP / 196 Atk / 236 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Aqua Tail
- U-turn
- Knock Off
- Tail Slap

I chose Mincinno because it has a devastating offensive move in Tail Slap, along with a plethora of useful moves, such as Knock Off. Aqua Tail is there because I felt that I needed a Water Move, and U-Turn is there to do some damage whenever I switch out. Knock Off has won me games by taking Eviolite off of bulky walls, which otherwise can be challenging.

Taillow
Speedy Gonzales (Taillow) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Guts
Level: 5
EVs: 36 HP / 236 Atk / 236 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- Quick Attack
- U-turn
- Facade
This Taillow is the same one I use on my other team, and for good reason. It is an incredible revenge killer, and is often my only chance at shutting down opposing sweepers. The Facade enables it to take full advantage of any burn it acquires, U-Turn allows it to come in, kill, switch out, and not give up momentum. Return and Brave Bird are the primary STABs, with the ability to do lots of damage, and quickly.

Aipom
The Boss (Aipom) @ Life Orb
Trait: Pickup
Level: 5
EVs: 72 HP / 196 Atk / 236 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out
- Seed Bomb
- Return
- Brick Break
To put it simply, Aipom is an incredible lead, and a powerful lead is a great thing to have. It can do a good deal of damage with Fake Out, and often proceed to KO the opposing lead with Seed Bomb, Brick Break, or STAB Return. The Jolly Nature is to outspeed and beat other Aipoms.

Buneary
Rabbit Stew (Buneary) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Limber
Level: 5
EVs: 36 HP / 236 Atk / 236 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Return
- Drain Punch
- ThunderPunch
- Fire Punch

Buneary is a powerful revenge killer, with access to the elemental punches along with a STAB option in Return. This means that Buneary can come in on almost any pokemon, smash it with a powerful super effective move, and then switch back out, waiting until it gets another turn. It is incredibly useful, and has been a lifesaver plenty of times.


Thank you for reading, and please remember to comment!










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[Gengan]

THIS IS WHY WE HAVE BATTLING 101 DAMMIT FFS

Scraggy doesn't use Mach Punch. Timburr is the only Fighting-type Pokemon in LC that uses Mach Punch. Scraggy's most common set is Dragon Dance / Drain Punch (Hi-Jump Kick) / Crunch / Ice Punch (Zen Headbutt). After a DD Drain Punch is lethal to your whole team. Hell, it's almost lethal without a boost. If it has HJK, well, whoosh...

I'm also interested in how well you deal with Ghost-types. Porygon is the only Pokemon that can hit them for super-effective damage, and since you have half of your team Choiced, any Ghost-type can switch into a Normal-type attack, forcing you to have to switch out as it sets up in your face.

All-in-all, this is a good idea, but this isn't the tier for it. Normal-types struggle in LC because of the many Fighting- and Ghost-types that plague it. MonoNormal isn't exactly a great monotype either...

EDIT: Also, the most common lead in LC is Mienfoo. Opposing Aipom leads are rare, so you can actually take off the Jolly nature on Aipom and give it an Adamant Nature to hit harder.

Or just make a new team entirely.

 

[JacobNinja]

THIS IS WHY WE HAVE BATTLING 101 DAMMIT FFS

Scraggy doesn't use Mach Punch. Timburr is the only Fighting-type Pokemon in LC that uses Mach Punch. Scraggy's most common set is Dragon Dance / Drain Punch (Hi-Jump Kick) / Crunch / Ice Punch (Zen Headbutt). After a DD Drain Punch is lethal to your whole team. Hell, it's almost lethal without a boost. If it has HJK, well, whoosh...

I'm also interested in how well you deal with Ghost-types. Porygon is the only Pokemon that can hit them for super-effective damage, and since you have half of your team Choiced, any Ghost-type can switch into a Normal-type attack, forcing you to have to switch out as it sets up in your face.

All-in-all, this is a good idea, but this isn't the tier for it. Normal-types struggle in LC because of the many Fighting- and Ghost-types that plague it. MonoNormal isn't exactly a great monotype either...

EDIT: Also, the most common lead in LC is Mienfoo. Opposing Aipom leads are rare, so you can actually take off the Jolly nature on Aipom and give it an Adamant Nature to hit harder.

Or just make a new team entirely.

Oh sorry I meant timburr

Additionally, the reason I chose them is because they were the only type I could find that had 6 usable pokemon...

 

[Gengan]

Honestly? Monoteams in LC are unheard of for a reason. Mono teams are better pulled off in UU where there's enough diversity to make monoteams. LC has very few viable Pokemon in it, and you can't just slap 6 Pokemon of the same type together and expect it to actually work, especially when it's Normal-type.

 

[Rowan]

Yeah sorry JacobNinja, I really can't see this team going anywhere, in a metagame where Mienfoo is the most used pokemon and Scraggy, Timburr and Croagunk are reasonably common. Even Taillow won't be much use because of Timburr and Croagunk's priority moves, added onto the fact that Taillow isn't hard to be worn down at all, SR weakness, flimsy defences etc...

Monotype teams are a fun gimmick, but at the end of the day they are not competitively viable, which means I can't really rate the team without changing your concept or changing your team completely. If you're looking for help with teambuilding in general, attending the LC teambuilding sessions is a great way to learn from the best about how to create a solid team.

 

[JacobNinja]

Yeah sorry JacobNinja, I really can't see this team going anywhere, in a metagame where Mienfoo is the most used pokemon and Scraggy, Timburr and Croagunk are reasonably common. Even Taillow won't be much use because of Timburr and Croagunk's priority moves, added onto the fact that Taillow isn't hard to be worn down at all, SR weakness, flimsy defences etc...

Monotype teams are a fun gimmick, but at the end of the day they are not competitively viable, which means I can't really rate the team without changing your concept or changing your team completely. If you're looking for help with teambuilding in general, attending the LC teambuilding sessions is a great way to learn from the best about how to create a solid team.

Actually I have a new team and am currently 31-5 (including two accidental dces) and may do an rmt, hoping to peak #1 first