Monotype Rate My Mono Ground Type Team

[JakUltimate2005]

Hello, my name is Jak!
Today I'm gonna let you guys rate my mono ground team.
Just a heads up, my team is different from the average ground team...
With that outta the way, here's the team:

Gastrodon @ Leftovers
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
- Clear Smog
- Recover
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Toxic

Main Roles:
-Water Slayer
-Tank #1
-Kommo-o Stopper

The first Pokemon I considered when it comes to stopping water type teams is Gastrodon. Gastrodon is able to switch into Mega-Swampert and opposing Gastrodon (who threaten the rest of the team if Swampert has Ice Punch for Garchomp), and absorb their Scalds and Waterfalls to boost its Special Attack. Gastrodon has to finish Mega-Swampert quickly though, since Mega-Swampert's Earthquake 2HKOs it. Even though Gastrodon has a 2% chance to 2HKO the average Pelipper after Storm Drain boost, it can speed up the process by using Toxic and spamming HP Grass and Recover until it dies. Lastly, Gastrodon survives Kommo-o's strongest attack after Clangorous Soulblaze and counters with Clear Smog to avoid a Kommo-o sweep.

Here are some calculations:
+1 252+ SpA Gastrodon Hidden Power Grass vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Swampert: 372-440 (109 - 129%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Swampert Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Gastrodon: 219-258 (51.4 - 60.5%) -- 91% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+1 252+ SpA Gastrodon Hidden Power Grass vs. 252 HP / 236+ SpD Gastrodon: 284-336 (66.6 - 78.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
+1 252+ SpA Gastrodon Hidden Power Grass vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Pelipper: 113-133 (34.9 - 41.1%) -- 62.9% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock, Leftovers recovery, and toxic damage
+1 4 Atk Kommo-o Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Gastrodon: 288-340 (67.6 - 79.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Nidoking @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Earth Power
- Sludge Wave
- Fire Blast
- Ice Beam

Roles:
-Special Sweeper
-Grass Slayer #1
-Fairy Slayer #1
-Bug Slayer #1

The next Pokemon I considered was Nidoking. Nidoking is able to defeat the bulky grass types with Life Orb Sheer Force Sludge Wave or Fire Blast. Also good for taking out the fairies that Garchomp hates, and those pesky bugs and opposing ground teams (the ones that are slower).


Donphan @ Red Card
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
- Ice Shard
- Counter

Main Roles:
-Hazards
-Dragonite Multiscale Breaker
-Counter
-Rapid Spin

Donphan is here because it can not only set up Stealth Rocks, but knock them away as well. Donphan can defeat Weavile by surviving on one health and using Counter. This guy can also break Multiscale with Ice Shard in order for another Pokemon to kill Dragonite after.

Steelix @ Steelixite
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Curse
- Heavy Slam
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Main Roles:
-Tank #2
-Fairy Slayer #2
-Ice Slayer
-Primary Bulu Slayer

Mega-Steelix is the oddest pick of my team, but hear me out! Mega-Steelix can tank Tapu Bulu BEFORE using Curse and BEFORE Landorus' Intimidate. Steelix can also 2HKO Bulu before using Curse. It can also defeat most Ice Types rather easily.

Here are some calculations:
4 Atk Steelix Heavy Slam (120 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Tapu Bulu: 204-240 (72.5 - 85.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Grassy Terrain recovery
+1 4 Atk Steelix Heavy Slam (120 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Tapu Bulu: 302-356 (107.4 - 126.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Tapu Bulu Wood Hammer vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Steelix in Grassy Terrain: 160-189 (45.1 - 53.3%) -- 0.4% chance to 2HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery
252 Atk Tapu Bulu Wood Hammer vs. +1 252 HP / 0 Def Steelix in Grassy Terrain: 108-127 (30.5 - 35.8%) -- guaranteed 4HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery

Landorus-Therian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fly
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- U-turn

Main Roles:
-Bug Slayer #2
-Grass Slayer #2
-Fighting Slayer
-Secondary Bulu Slayer
-Flying Slayer (if Stone Edge hits)
-Physical Sweeper #1

I chose Landorus-Therian because I need to slay those fighting types that slowly make Steelix depressed, and the flying types that avoid the team's main STAB. I also use Landorus as a secondary Bulu Slayer (IF Steelix is defeated somehow). It stops Physical Sweepers with Intimidate, which is good too.

Garchomp @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Fire Fang

Main Roles:
-Dragon Slayer
-Physical Sweeper #2
-Water Neutrality

Garchomp is here in order to stop the Mono-Dragon Teams and in order to provide a water neutrality for the team (other than Gastrodon).
More of an All-Out Attacker than a weakness neutralizer (other than water and grass) since everyone else is a Ground Type and Dragon Type moves aren't strong against anything other than themselves, and are only used to deal great STAB damage.

So that was my well thought out team. I hope you like the planning process. Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated.

Three final questions I have:
-Is there any major threats that I have to look out for?
-With enough practice, should I bring this team to a Monotype Tournament?
-Any suggestions to help my team out? (please post the changes in your comment)

Bye everyone! Hope you enjoy the rest of your days!

 

[Ronneberg]

Nice team! But considering that Mega Steelix is very slow naturally and drops its speed stat even further while boosting up with Curse, why not use Gyro Ball? Although that only has 8PP, so don‘t take my words at face value.
Also maybe you should use another Mega, Steelix really isn‘t that viable in my opinion.
Fly on Scarf Lando seems odd to me, a more standard set utilizing Stealth Rock or Defog as a fourth slot could be more beneficial as Fly is primarily used in conjunction with Flyinium Z and otherwise gives the enemy time to react properly, probably the last thing you want with a Pokémon wielding a Choice Scarf.
As far as I know, Landorus Incarnate is legal for ground-monotype teams, why not try that out?
Fire Blast is better on Garchomp than Fire Fang, as yours doesn‘t utilize SD. Also, Poison Jab is a better coverage move than Iron Head as it hits Bulu harder.
Cheers!

 

[mushamu]

Sandless Ground with Mega Steelix is a concept I've also been enjoying recently. I have a few changes I would like to suggest in order to make the team work better. Without further ado, here are my suggested changes:

252 Def > 252 SpA and Scald > Hidden Power Grass
I think running max Defense on Gastrodon would be more effective than running max Special Attack, as it backs Gastrodon's role as a Water immunity by letting it take notably Mega Swampert's Earthquake and Choice Specs Keldeo's Secret Sword comfortably, two huge threats to Ground teams, as well as other physical attacks. Special Attack isn't too important seeing as Gastrodon values the bulk a lot more, and with reliable recovery it can be a headache for Water teams to take down. I also think Scald would be more useful over Hidden Power Grass here in order to throw out burns.

>

I'd also recommend running Excadrill over Donphan for Stealth Rock and Rapid Spin. Excadrill's ability in Mold Breaker allows it to get up Stealth Rock against Mega Sableye, and the Steel typing gives you a handful of resistances along with Grass and Ice neutralities, allowing it to switch into threats such as Choice Scarf Latios and effectively do its job. Toxic allows it to put timers on Defog users that try to remove its Stealth Rock such as Mantine, Zapdos, and Staraptor, and setup sweepers looking to set up on Excadrill for free, while its speed tier allows it to cripple Taunt Mew.

Knock Off > Fly
Fly really isn't a good move on Choice Scarf Landorus-T. You already have Mega Steelix, which comfortably takes Tapu Bulu's attacks using its amazing Defense stat and Steel typing, while essentially setting up and sweeping entire Fairy teams. Taking a full turn to execute the move is also unfortunate and easy to take advantage of, while it also struggles with Substitute Tapu Bulu, which is a popular set right now. Therefore, I think running another move over Fly such as Knock Off would be better. Knock Off is a great move for utility, being able to soften up the opposing team by removing key items such as Eviolite and Leftovers from Pokemon such as Chansey and Celesteela, and Landorus-T can utilize it well due to the switches it forces.

Swords Dance > Iron Head and

>

Garchomp is indeed an amazing pick for every Ground team, being one of the best offensive Pokemon the type has to offer. With Choice Scarf Landorus-T being the main form of speed control on the team, this opens Garchomp up to use a Swords Dance set to dismantle the opposition. The easiest way to make this a nice Swords Dance set would be to replace Iron Head with Swords Dance, and running Dragonium Z over Choice Scarf. Dragonium Z powers Outrage up into Z-Outrage, effectively beating bulky walls such as Mega Venusaur and Porygon2 when boosted by Swords Dance. Other variations of Swords Dance Garchomp can also be used effectively, so I'd recommend experimenting with it a little bit.

Optional changes:

Running an Impish nature over Careful on Mega Steelix gives you a bit of additional physical bulk before setting up Curse. It also notably allows Mega Steelix to always survive a boosted Aqua Jet from Azumarill at full health.

Thunderbolt lets Nidoking hit Mantine, which can be nice for breaking past balanced Water and Flying teams.

Final team:

team

Gastrodon @ Leftovers
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Clear Smog
- Recover
- Scald
- Toxic

Excadrill @ Leftovers
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake

Nidoking @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Earth Power
- Sludge Wave
- Fire Blast
- Ice Beam

Steelix @ Steelixite
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Curse
- Heavy Slam
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Landorus-Therian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- U-turn

Garchomp @ Dragonium Z
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Outrage
- Fire Fang

These are my recommendations, I wish you luck on the team!

 

[SheerForce]

Hi,

I’m not the best at full rates and suggesting changes, but quite frankly, these sets have a ton of flaws that I feel the need to point out. The above rater did a much better job than I could of actually changing the team, but I’m here to explain why exactly some of the ideas you have here don’t work in practice.

First off, Gastrodon. You claim it’s supposed to be a “water slayer”, so let’s begin by looking at how your set matches up against Water mons on the VR that aren’t packing a quad Grass weakness and see if this actually fares any better compared to the standard defensive set.

Greninja - after Protean, HP Grass will be neutral given that none of Gren’s common moves leave it weak to Grass, and it will then proceed to do a maximum of 34.7%. As such, the standard set is better here.

Toxapex - not running Earth Power leaves you hopelessly walled. Standard is better.

Gyarados - HP might as well heal this thing, and you’re stripping Gastrodon of its usual physdef investment to run Modest, so your set is worse than the usual once more.

Keldeo - Grass does 45.8% max, failing to 2HKO after rocks, and without physdef you go from having a favorable roll vs Specs Secret Sword after rocks to having the same roll vs Scarf/Z-Water sets, making Gastrodon much less viable as a check. Standard wins again.

Mantine - takes absolutely nothing from Grass even after Roost, just a Toxic war with either set. Notable, however, that less def investment could end up with you getting more significantly worn down before you have to outstall this thing, which could end up mattering.

Washtom - I guess you can actually directly touch this thing again after Toxic, but Toxic + Recover is sufficient against it anyway.

Suicune - Takes a whopping 24.2 - 28.7% from HP Grass, and that’s before CM. I guess you can try to stop it from getting behind sub and then land Toxic if it tries to boost in front of you, but that’s one hell of a guessing game to play: lose it just once on either a mispredict or a low roll and you’ll end up getting PP stalled.

Azumarill - uses Perish Trap on Water, so it actually takes literally nothing, and with your Toxic and Storm Drain vs its Rest and Sap Sipper you’d just end up in a stalemate.

Empoleon - HP Grass > Earth Power = loss.

Mega Sharpedo - Crunch has the same rolls as Secret Sword Keldeo, so again, no def turns a favorable chance to avoid a 2HKO into a minimum of about 67% taken, while Grass is a slower 2HKO in return. One more for standard.

Mega Slowbro - much more threatened by Toxic than any attacks, and standard takes Psyshock better.

I won’t run though every C-Rank and below, but just know that literally nothing there without a quad weakness is even 2HKOed by HP Grass.

In general, having a somewhat better matchup against specifically the Water/Grounds is nowhere near worth giving up Scald’s utility, Earth Power’s coverage, and the bulk that Gastrodon needs to stand up against many of the mons it’s supposed to check. If you want to run this thing, you’re best off going bog-standard and just using the much more reliable Toxic (and Earth Power vs. the Poison immunities) to check opposing Waters without sacrificing so much for a gimmick that helps you out so little anyway. Lastly, I will note that Clear Smog over Earth Power is a perfectly valid option if you’d rather have that tool to buffer against sweepers and leave the Toxapex and Empoleon matchups to your other team members: I only mentioned the latter move so many times to illustrate the benefits of the standard set as opposed to yours.


Moving on after that wall of text (the rest of my post will be much more concise, I promise), Nidoking is fine as-is, though Thunderbolt for troublesome Water- and Flying-types in general and Mantine in particular is worth considering as noted above. I have much experience with Steelix, but that set seems fine too, and I think Heavy Slam is generally favored over Gyro Ball IIRC.

Donphan is.....giving me gen 5 flashbacks here. Yes, it is technically capable of setting rocks and spinning them away, but this horribly passive momentum drain of a set does an absolutely miserable job at both. I also have to wonder here if you have even tested this team, since for some reason you specifically mention beating Weavile by living via Sturdy (which is unlikely to stay intact btw, considering you’re using Donphan to switch into and remove hazards that will break it) and Countering even though the presence of Red Card means that Weavile will be switched out and one of its teammates will end up taking that bullet instead, leaving it free to come back in and start wreaking havoc again later. As was again noted above, Excadrill is a much better option for the rocker/spinner role.

5: Two-turn moves that actually take two turns are bad. Being locked into them for as long as you’re in battle is worse. Sadly, fitting both a Scarf and a decent Flying move on Lando is simply not possible.

6: I really really really do not like ScarfChomp these days. Even if it might look like it has the right combination of speed and power, having two particularly nasty immunities tied to each of its STABs can be quite crippling when you need to choose which one you’re locking into. It’s not particularly reliable against opposing Dragon teams either, as any team with Mega Altaria prevents Garchomp from locking into Outrage for a revenge kill unless it wants to be immediately and effortlessly revenged itself. It can even set up on you for free, particularly if the opponent knows Chomp is Scarf and if Steelix is worn down to an Earthquakeable percent. The completely unboosted and unboostable coverage moves are nothing to write home about either, as the only notable Fairy that dies to Iron Head is already threatened by Earthquake, and Fire Fang doesn’t OHKO Ferrothorn or significantly threaten Celesteela, which are two of the main mons that move is supposed to handle. And of course, all of this is basically irrelevant because your team already has a much better scarfer, and two on the same team is usually overkill. Again, the set suggested above goes a long way towards fixing this.

This tired me out, I’m not used to all this “thinking” nonsense. Anyway, I hope I helped in some way or another.