Other The Poisonous Touch (A monotype poison team)

[PoisonMafuba]

Here I have a monotype team that I wish to have rated. I've tried it a few times in the Monotype and OU tiers with mixed results, so ratings are appreciated.

Skuntank @ Black Sludge
Ability: Aftermath
EVs: 16 HP / 228 Atk / 252 SpD / 12 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Haze
- Sucker Punch
- Poison Jab
- Defog

Skuntank is a vital member of the team and is my primary option to check psychic types, as well as remove entry hazards. The psychic immunity is vital to this team since it can switch in to psychic types with little issue and let it Defog. It was difficult choosing between Haze and Taunt, but in the end I chose Haze to catch set-up sweepers and baton passers off guard and mess up their plans. Poison Jab and Sucker Punch provide reliable STAB and can be used to lower a physical attacker's hp to the point that Aftermath can dispose of them. It's investments in Hp and SpD allow it to take special hits, the investment in Atk is used to potentially KO, or at least wound, any non-physical walls and such, and the Spe investment allows it to outspeed a few pokemon that may switch into it.

Crobat @ Expert Belt
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Heat Wave

Crobat is my choice for a speedy special sweeper because nobody would ever expect it to do anything other than Defog. It also is useful in the ability to evade troublesome ground attacks. Nasty Plot allows it to demonstrate it's awesome power, Giga Drain serves well for health recovery, Sludge Bomb is used for powerful STAB, and Heat Wave decimates almost any steel type that comes after it. Max investments in SpA and Spe make Crobat very difficult to deal with, only walled by Heatran and Calm Mind+Unaware Clefable (in my experience).

Venusaur-Mega @ Venusaurite
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 248 HP / 96 Def / 144 SpD / 20 Spe
Bold Nature
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Synthesis
- Knock Off

Venusaur takes up my mega slot thanks to it's durability and extremely useful ability, both of which allow it to serve as a tank. Giga Drain is used to restore health while dealing damage, Sludge Bomb is a strong STAB move that deals decent damage to anything that doesn't resist, Synthesis is best for immediate healing, and Knock Off allows it to deal with psychic types and cripple opposing pokemon by removing their precious items. Investments in HP, Def, and Sp.D essentially guarantee that Venusaur will survive any non-boosted attack.

Dragalge @ Choice Specs
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 228 HP / 252 SpA / 28 Spe
Modest Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Sludge Wave
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Scald

Dragalge serves as a very powerful, albeit slow, special sweeper. Draco Meteor and Sludge Wave are devastating to anything that doesn't resist them thanks to the combo of Choice Specs and Adaptability. For any other problems that may show up for those moves are Hp Fire for steel types, and Scald for any pesky Heatran that may pop up. Investments in HP allow Dragalge to take a few hits before needing to run, max investment in SpA serves to hit opposing pokemon like a truck, and the Spe is just to slightly increase the chance of it moving first.

Toxicroak @ Black Sludge
Ability: Dry Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Gunk Shot
- Drain Punch
- Sucker Punch
- Ice Punch

Toxicroak functions as a powerful physical sweeper and an answer for any water types that may try to cause a ruckus, thanks to Dry Skin. Gunk Shot is a powerful and destructive STAB move when it hits it's opponents. Drain Punch lets it deal with Steel types that could cause trouble, Sucker Punch is for when a psychic type emerges thinking it can take easy advantage of the 4x weakness and for removing any weakened threats, and Ice Punch serves to dispose of Ground and Flying types. Max investments in Atk and Spe are to make it very difficult to deal with.

Nidoking @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
- Poison Jab
- Sucker Punch

And finally, Nidoking is the second powerful physical sweeper on the team. Earthquake provides powerful STAB with a life orb boost, and can easily destroy opposing pokemon, Ice Punch is there to eradicate any Flying types, Poison Jab is a powerful STAB move and is fearsome when paired with Sheer Force, and Sucker Punch lets Nidoking deal with anything faster than it and Psychic types. Max investments in Atk and Spe make Nidoking a force to be reckoned with.

 

[haxiom]

Hello PoisonMafuba , and welcome to Smogon!

Unfortunately, this RMT is currently not following the rules which can be found in the RMT Resource Thread; specifically, this thread violates rule #4, because you lack sufficient descriptions for each Pokemon on your team. As such, I am afraid that I will have to lock this thread for the time being. If you would like this thread to be reopened, feel free to PM me with your updated RMT, and I would be happy to reopen this thread for you. If you need help making an RMT up to the required standards, I recommend that you carefully read the RMT Resource Thread and check out other RMTs from the Team Showcase and RMT Archive for some examples.

Good luck with your team, and have a nice day!

EDIT: Reopened!

 

[13ulbasaur]

I actually got halfway through making a post rating this team when I realised you only mentioned 'Monotype' and 'OU' in the thread. Is this team for Doubles, or did you misunderstand the tag? If it is for doubles ill finish up my post

 

[Pastelle]

Even if this team isn't meant for DOU, I'm rating it as so anyways, so here we go...

Hi there PoisonMafuba, welcome to Smogon!

Unfortunately, this team is not very viable in Doubles OU for a couple of reasons. First of all, monotype teams are not very good in non-monotype tiers, especially Doubles. This is because your chances of winning a game will be entirely based on match-up (meaning whoever wins will be based on what Pokemon the opponent brings, rather than actual skill). The reason why winning is based on match-up is because every single teammate has a weakness to either Ground or Psychic. This is very bad considering the most common Pokemon used in the tier is the Earthquake spammer Landorus-T. Cresselia and Latios are also very common, as well as the moves Earth Power and Earthquake. Any of these Pokemon or moves can easily tear huge holes in your team. You're not doing everything wrong, however. Mega Venusaur is a very good Pokemon, and Dragalge has a cool niche. Otherwise the rest of your teammates are either outclassed by other Pokemon or all-around considered unviable.

There is a Monotype Singles tier you can check out here if you're still interested in the concept of monotype. I've played it myself a few times and it can be fun.
If this team was not meant for monotype singles (there is no monotype doubles tier), I recommend checking out Battling 101 here to better understand competitive battling, or you can go here for some useful information about Doubles OU. Don't give up, there is always someone on this site willing to help.Good luck, and again, welcome to Smogon!

 

[13ulbasaur]

Bah screw it I'll post my rate anyway too assuming this is doubles. ;-;

Hey there! Welcome to Doubles. Clearly, as a poison monotype, I'm sure you realise that this team will definitely not be compteitively viable, so don't expect too many victories.

Regardless, I can see that you are new to Doubles judging by the Pokemon's move choices. Pastel already posted some resources, but here's a quick run down on some notable differences between Singles and Doubles that you should take account into regarding move and Pokemon choices:

• Protect is a very important move, and mandatory on almost every Pokemon that isn't a dedicated support or isn't using the Assault Vest or Choice Scarf/Band/Specs items. This is because in the Doubles settings, when you are facing against two Pokemon with two of your own, a lot of the times it can be beneficial to Protect one Pokemon from opposing threats, while your partner hopefully takes care of it. None of your Pokemon feature this move, and this leaves you very vulnerable.
• Using set up moves (Swords Dance, Nasty Pots etc) is very hard to do and succeed with, and again, should only be attempted on bulkier Pokemon that are able to take hits.
• Hazards such as Stealth Rocks and Spikes are basically nonexistant. There is no need to dedicate one or two entire Pokemon solely for the setting up and removal of hazards, it is a wast and often there are better moves to use.
• Speed Control is vital, having some form of Speed Control such as Tailwind, Icy Wind, Thunder Wave and Trick Room is extremely important in a team, otherwise you will often find yourself being speed controlled, and thus be left slow and frail against an opponent.

With this in mind, let's take a look at what could be changed about your team to make it at least functional in the Doubles metagame, if just for fun.

Skuntank - Remove Haze and Defog, as aforementioned hazards aren't really a thing to be wasting a precious move slot on. Haze is only really useful for, what, Belly Drum Azumarill? You'd probably be dead before you could click that button. Put Protect on it instead, and--Wow, Skuntank doesn't have a lot of moves does it? Well... I guess you could keep haze,lol.

Crobat - Replace Nasty Plot with Tailwind, this gives you at least one form of speed control and allows you to in the worst case scenario 'negate' opposing team's tailwinds or swift swim/chlorophyll speed boosts. Crobat is too frail to be setting up Nasty Plots, especially with such an offensive spread. From there, I would probably replace Heat Wave and Giga Drain with Brave Bird and Protect respectively, and Poison Jab over Sludge Bomb. This is because you have absolutely nothing to hit opposing Mega Venusaurs hard with, and a decently supported opposing Venusaur could easily roll through your team. A brave bird hits much, much harder than an Air Slash, and most fairies are specially defensive while Physically frail, so having another nice simple physical poison type attack can go a long way.

Venusaur - Replace Knock Off with Protect. Synthesis is fine, however I suggest you try out Leech Seed just to see how it goes. I personally like Leech Seed more on my Venus.

Dragalge - It looks fine, I suggest replacing Sludge Wave with Sludge Bomb though, Yes, I know your entire team resists it, however it is still STAB, Adaptability, and comig off of Choice Specs. That chip damage is just going to help your opponents. Sludge Bomb is more reliable.

Nidoking - Life Orb boost is really nice, however, Nidokings finds it extremely hard to function because of its speed tier and frailty. For this reason, I believe that Choice Scarf is a more efficient item on it. A special spread is also better, because it has more coverage, has a Ground STAB that won't hurt your allies (which are all weak to ground except 1 lol) and won't get affected by Intimidates or Will-o-Wisps. You also desperately need something to handle Landorus-T, because it just bops your entire team as is. Latios is also a big threat if something happens to Skuntank. So i will suggest this set:

Nidoking (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 52 Atk / 252 SpA / 204 Spe
Naive Nature
- Sludge Bomb
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam
- Rock Slide

A speed boosting nature is required to allow you to outspeed Adamant Scarf Landos, which are most. You have to assume the worst case scenario, and that you won't have any speed control up. STABS, Ice Beam to hit Lando-T and Latios and like everything else. A mixed spread with Rock Slide I thought would be helpful, as it allows your team to better check oppsing Charizard-Ys and Talonflames (Nidoking can tank one Life Orb brave bird, and OHOK it with Rock Slide. Thunderbolt does not achieve this KO.) Rock Slide is also generally useful, and allows you to fish for flinches in the worst case scenario. The ev spread is pretty simple, it allows you to outspeed Scarf Lando-Ts by a point, with the rest dumped into Attack for extra Rock Slide damage.

On another note, here's a quick question. What's the most popular Mega and Pokemon in Doubles? Mega Kangaskhan! What completely destroys your team singlehandedly? Mega Kangaskhan!

I feel that Toxicroak is very useless in this team, it's too frail to make effective use of Black Sludge, and its speed tier is so meh. Mega Venusaur and your speed controls can handle Rain well enough, and you have other Pokemon to handle Talonflames that support rain teams. For that reason, I suggest removing Toxicroak and replacing it with a support Gengar.

Gengar @ Focus Sash
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Will-O-Wisp
- Taunt
- Icy Wind/Thunder Wave/Protect

This is a nice and simple support Gengar. It is able to help your team against Kangaskhans by burning it, and Kangaskhan can't really hit it since their dark stabs are 99% of the time Sucker Punch, which will fail if you use Wisp. It also gives you another ground immunity, which is immensely helpful against Landorus. These kinds of Gengars usually run Sludge Bomb, however you have so many Poison type attacks already, Shadow Ball would probably be handier just for coverage sake. Taunt allows you to stop set ups such as Tailwind, Trick Room, and Belly Drums. For the last slot, I would typically run Icy Wind, because if gives another method of speed control, however Thunder Wave is definitely an option if you prefer that. As a dedicated support mon, Protect isn't quite as necessary but if you may want to put it on just to help stall out other things such as Trick Rooms.

Also here's something to consider: You have SO MANY POISON TYPE MOVES. I know it's a mono poison team, however it is good to remember that POison isn't the best offensive type, the only relevant that it hits are fairies when you consider that most grass types used are also Poison types. So while you look over your team, you could consider replacing some of the Pokemon's poison type stabs with other moves for extra coverage.

You'll still have issues with, well, most everything of the meta, but that's the price to pay for playing with an uncompetitive team haha.

 

[PoisonMafuba]

I actually got halfway through making a post rating this team when I realised you only mentioned 'Monotype' and 'OU' in the thread. Is this team for Doubles, or did you misunderstand the tag? If it is for doubles ill finish up my post

Sorry, I'm new here and not very bright or understanding on how to work forums and such, it's not meant for doubles. Went and put it under other, it seemed more appropriate looking back. But I do appreciate your criticisms and will do my best to alter the team.

 

[RZL]

Okay, I will do a rate but as a Monotype team okay!

So the first thing I am going to recommend is Drapion > Stunktank. Drapion is a much more reliable counter to Psychic due to its greater defenses and access to Knock Off, furthermore Drapion also has higher base speed allowing it to outspeed a lot uninvested. I will post the set it a hide tag later!

I love NP Crobat!!! Except run Air Slash > Sludge Bomb as it gives you a bit more coverage and the Flinch chance is nice.

Mega Venusaur's quintessential set is really bulky and honestly is your best answer to water, so change the Mega Venusaur set to the set hereinafter.

Dragalge is not a sweeper to be honest, but a wall breaker for NP Crobat! Run Choice Spec Adaptability and spam your STAB moves. Yeah, I would move the speed over to HP and put 4 EVs in either defense, as there is nothing Dragalge would outspeed and it would greatly prefer the extra bulk.

Toxicroak...replace this with Gengar to better deal with Psychic types, and it can also take out any threat with Destiny Bond. The set will be below.

I would use Nidoking as a Revenge Killer or use Nidoqueen to set up Rocks I will leave you both sets below so try them out!

sets

Drapion @ Air Balloon
Ability: Battle Armor
EVs: 248 HP / 24 Def / 236 SpD
Careful Nature
- Knock Off
- Earthquake
- Pursuit
- Taunt

Venusaur @ Venusaurite
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 200 HP / 100 Def / 200 SpD / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
- Synthesis
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Leech Seed

Gengar @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Destiny Bond
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
- Substitute

Nidoking (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Earth Power
- Flamethrower

Nidoqueen (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 212 HP / 80 SpA / 216 Spe
Serious Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Ice Beam
- Earth Power
- Fire Blast