Mono-Poison is terrible
Challenge accepted.
Someone said that while I was derping around on PO. So naturally the first thing I did was go make myself a mono-Poison team. It isn't a horrible mono in my opinion, but Poison is a tricky type to use. It's the worst offensive type in the game, super-effective to only Grass while 4 types resist it and Steel's immune, but it has its perks. Like only two weaknesses and an immunity to Toxic and T-Spikes. Anyway, here we go:
The process:
;094;
I started here, with Gengar. I know it's a good Pokemon and it has Levitate, which was a must on this team at least once.
;094; :591:
Gengar's pretty offensive, so I wanted to throw in a little defense. Amoonguss seemed solid, and I'd heard good things.
;094; :591: ;452;
Poison's weak to Psychic, so I felt I needed a Dark-type. Drapion seemed better than Skuntank for this job.
;094; :591: ;452; ;073;
Tentacruel acts as a spinner and Special wall. It's also my T-Spikes setter.
;094; :591: ;452; ;073; ;034;
Nidoking makes a great Special attacker alongside Gengar, what with Sheer Force and all.
;094; :591: ;452; ;073; ;034; :545:
I needed some Physical presence and Scolipede provides it with a whopping Base 112 Spe and reasonable Atk.
;452; ;094; :591: ;073; ;034; :545:
As a lead, Gengar was dying a lot so I brought Drapion to the front to drop T-Spikes immediately and I've been having more success
I started here, with Gengar. I know it's a good Pokemon and it has Levitate, which was a must on this team at least once.
;094; :591:
Gengar's pretty offensive, so I wanted to throw in a little defense. Amoonguss seemed solid, and I'd heard good things.
;094; :591: ;452;
Poison's weak to Psychic, so I felt I needed a Dark-type. Drapion seemed better than Skuntank for this job.
;094; :591: ;452; ;073;
Tentacruel acts as a spinner and Special wall. It's also my T-Spikes setter.
;094; :591: ;452; ;073; ;034;
Nidoking makes a great Special attacker alongside Gengar, what with Sheer Force and all.
;094; :591: ;452; ;073; ;034; :545:
I needed some Physical presence and Scolipede provides it with a whopping Base 112 Spe and reasonable Atk.
;452; ;094; :591: ;073; ;034; :545:
As a lead, Gengar was dying a lot so I brought Drapion to the front to drop T-Spikes immediately and I've been having more success
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Drapion (Ricin) @ Black Sludge
Trait: Battle Armor
Impish Nature
EVs: 248 HP / 244 Def / 16 Spe
- Toxic Spikes
- X-Scissor
- Whirlwind
- Crunch
This is a physically-defensive Drapion, since I already have SpD covered in Amoonguss and Tentacruel. Battle Armor negates Critical Hits, which is really nice. Toxic Spikes is there for the poison and Whirlwind spreads it and phazes nicely. Crunch and X-Scissor are my offensive moves of choice with X-Scissor mainly there for Grass and Dark-types. Crunch is what I prefer to attack with, for obvious reasons (namely STAB and potential Def drop).
[IMG200]https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRmtQ2TwO99fRC0MLxQcWJomfTcMViJ_odVtgEYr1_C1UkxDUehEQ[/IMG200]
Gengar (Monoxide) @ Black Sludge
Trait: Levitate
Timid Nature
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
- Substitute
- Disable
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
I think we all know what this does. SubDisable is probably Gengar's best option. Shadow Ball and Focus Blast get great coverage together, unresisted IIRC. Substitute is for scouting, blocking statuses and allowing for the use of Disable. Disable just kills one move, which can be great after a Sub blocks Crunch or something. I pretty much always use Spe boosting natures with offensive Pokes, and the EVs maximize damage and Spe. Going first is especially important here because even if my Sub is broken immediately I can Disable their super-effective move on the next turn. That's been forcing quite a few switches, so I've started using the next turn to Sub again when that happens.
[IMG200]https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRdmTMw-rULSsPOQBTgLhWMG1GWHpAyOW7E6ExvFDpQCigm6e3z[/IMG200]
Amoonguss (Anthrax) @ Black Sludge
Trait: Regenerator
Calm Nature
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
- Spore
- Giga Drain
- Clear Smog
- Hidden Power Ice
I've opted for HP Ice over Sludge Bomb because let's be honest, Poison is awful offensively, while HP Ice handles many threats. I never know what team I'll face, but I do know HP Ice hits much more for good damage than Sludge Bomb, even with STAB. Clear Smog resets my opponent's boosts, Giga Drain combos with Black Sludge for recovery and Spore just puts 'em to sleep. Regenerator goes well with the wall theme here and helps Amoonguss's bulk considerably. Black Sludge over Leftovers to punish Trick users. It's really funny when they dump something on me and get Black Sludge shoved in their faces. And they're often already poisoned too.
Funny little story here, I once got stuck with a Poison mirror match. My opponent was down to her last Pokemon, the exact same Gengar I run. It had just killed my last check to it, Drapion. It was at 46% from Crunch, and behind a sub. I was sure I was screwed because Amoonguss was my last Poke. So I pitched it in and launched a HP Ice, which I knew would be disabled. It did manage to break the sub though, and on the next turn my opponent dropped another sub while I used Giga Drain. It did not break the sub, which I expected. I ate a Shadow Ball on the next turn, I broke that sub with Giga Drain. I ate another Shadow Ball. I don't remember the percentages at this point but Gengar dropped another sub while I used Giga Drain yet again. On the following turn, I took another Shadow Ball to the face and broke my opponent's sub with, you guessed it, Giga Drain. I would be dead by now if not for that and Sludge. The Gengar was pretty low now too though. I don't remember how low but it had no more subs available to it at this point. I knew I'd survive one more Shadow Ball but I still had no idea how much my Giga Drains were doing. I'm still not sure why I didn't run the calc for it, but I survived the final Shadow Ball with 44 HP left and KOed with Giga Drain. From that moment on I knew Amoonguss would be a favorite of mine.
[IMG200]https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTA-37rDAwhs2OjU4OgnmnOU1d85JZpeBVkLFg4eSLsz7wHu8Zl-A[/IMG200]
Tentacruel (Botulinum) @ Black Sludge (I use that a lot huh...)
Trait: Liquid Ooze
Bold Nature
EVs: 252 HP / 236 Def / 20 Spe
- Protect
- Rapid Spin
- Ice Beam
- Scald
With Toxic Spikes on Drapion, I don't really need them here. This is my second Specially-defensive Poke and my spinner. Protect stalls for T-Spikes damage, Rapid Spin gets rid of hazards and Scald and Ice beam are there as my main attacks. Ice Beam is mainly shot at Grass-types and stuff like Gliscor, Salamence and Landorus. Scald is my main move due to STAB and if they aren't Poisoned (meaning they either got rid of my Spikes or they've got a Steel-type), Scald has that nice Burn chance too. As usual, Black Sludge is for recovery and Trick punishment (Last time I use it, I promise. Nothing bulky from here on out). I am trying Toxic Spikes over Protect as I may replace Drapion, as mentioned.
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Nidoking (Strychine) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Sheer Force
Timid Nature
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
- Earth Power
- Fire Blast
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
Sheer Force Nidoking is something I've meant to try for a while but I've never really had a team it fit on. I needed something to fill a dedicated offense role though, and it seemed like a great choice. Earth Power gets STAB and is my main attack. The other three are coverage moves used when they can deal more damage than Earth Power (although I think that last bit is kinda obvious). I am experimenting with a Scarf on this and, as mentioned, using Nidoqueen over it to set rocks with Skuntank replacing Drapion. However, losing out on this guy's sheer offense ended up costing me a lot more than I had anticipated on the offensive end (Skuntank just couldn't cut it, it got me 1 KO the whole time I was using it). I skip out on Nidoqueen's Rocks but I gain a very fast Special attacker that has swept a few teams completely and a reliable revenge killer. Scolipede is really frail and needs a turn to set up to be truly dangerous, so it's good to have this kind of power right off the bat.
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Scolipede (Sarin) @ Life Orb
Trait: Swarm
Jolly Nature
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
- Swords Dance
- Megahorn
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
This is my physical attacker. With 355 Spe and 558 (I think, I did that in my head) Atk after a Swords Dance, it hits really hard. Megahorn is STAB and my main attack. 120 Base Power, STAB and 558 Atk leads to pretty insane damage and as mentioned, Scolipede is actually pretty fast. Earthquake handles a fair amount of what resists Megahorn, bar Flying-types. They are annoying/ Rock Slide clips their wings though. EVs maximize Spe and Atk, and LO just makes me hit harder. I just noticed he's eating a Pikachu...
My biggest problem with this team is that T-Spikes is my only hazard, but I didn't see a whole lot to be done there bar sticking SR on Nidoking, which I kinda don't wanna do. If y'all think that would be good though, I'll give it a shot. Same with Spikes over Rock Slide on Scolipede but that means Flying-types wall it.
And yes, the nicknames are referencing deadly poisons.
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