Monotype The Toxic Kanto Squad (and Skuntank) [Peak: 1562]

[Blumenwitz]

Poison is my second favorite type (after Fighting), so I was always kind of bummed out that it was so underpowered, especially in Monotype. Putting together a successful mono Poison team was not as easy as doing mono Fighitng, but I think I pulled it off. Here's what I got!

Tessa (Venusaur-Mega) (F) @ Venusaurite
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Synthesis
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb

"I'm big, beautiful and proud."

Mega Venusaur is the backbone of my team. Not only is she one of the primary physical walls (along with Weezing Nidoqueen, who I'll expand on later), but she's also my team's primary check against Ground teams. That's why I opted for max physical defense; since most Ground-types are physical attackers, the EV spread lets her sponge most of their attacks and hit back with Giga Drain.

As for her moveset, it's pretty self-explanatory. Giga Drain and Sludge Bomb for STAB, Synthesis for recovery, and HP Fire to lure bulky Steel types like Scizor.

Ned & Ted (Weezing) (M) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Pain Split
- Will-O-Wisp
- Taunt
- Sludge Bomb

Candy (Nidoqueen) @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Roar
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam

"I'm a queen in name, in spirit and in style. Deal with it."

I decided to swap out Weezing for Nidoqueen, at the suggestion of MiyoKa and terrors. While not quite as bulky, she offers more to my team overall than Weezing did, namely Stealth Rock support and a greater degree of offensive pressure. With the Shuca Berry, she gives my team an added bit of leverage against Ground teams, so Venusaur's not carrying the load by herself.

Vivian (Gengar) (F) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dazzling Gleam Trick
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Wave
- Focus Blast

"Tee hee hee!"

Gengar's function is, first of all, to check Psychic. Whenever she gets in safely, she can terrorize Psychic teams by spamming Shadow Ball over and over again, without having to worry about being outsped. She also provides my team with a line of defense against the other numerous Choice Scarf users in the tier, particularly the base 100 and 108's. Trick's just there so that she can cripple walls who would otherwise give my team trouble, such as Chansey.

Morticia (Tentacruel) (F) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Liquid Ooze
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Calm Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Scald
- Giga Drain
- Haze

"I sincerely apologize for the idiocy of my teammates."

As you could probably guess, Tentacruel functions as my primary special wall, my spinner, and my check to special sweepers. In a manner similar to Weezing, Tentacruel can switch in on a lot of Calm Mind/QD users (most notably Volcarona), tank a hit, and haze them before they do any more damage. Aside from that, she's got Scald to give her some offensive pressure, and Giga Drain to supplement her recovery.

Lupe (Drapion) (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Battle Armor
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Pursuit
- Poison Jab
- Earthquake

Craig (Skuntank) (M) @ Air Balloon
Ability: Aftermath
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpA
Lonely Nature
- Pursuit
- Sucker Punch
- Fire Blast
- Poison Jab

"Hey, I'm Craig. I'm kind of the coolest person on this team, as you've probably figured out."

One of the hardest parts about making a Poison team is providing it with a line of defense against Psychic teams. Sure, mons like Gengar and Mega Beedrill hit them hard, but they can't switch in.

That's where Skuntank comes in. Originally, I had Drapion in this role, but Skuntank pulls it off better, due to his access to both Pursuit and Sucker Punch, along with a respectable SpA stat that he can use to threaten physical walls. The Air Balloon in particular makes him great at checking Landorus, since it renders him immune to both Ground and Psychic if he comes in fresh.

Ace (Nidoking) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Earth Power
- Sludge Wave
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt Flamethrower

"They don't call me NidoKING for nothing!"

Nidoking here is the muscle of my team. Once he gets in safely, he can pummel the opposing team with crushing, devastating blows. His STAB, combined with Fire-type coverage, makes him particularly effective against Steel teams, which give my team quite a bit of trouble otherwise. Ice Beam lets him dish out the pain to just about anything that isn't grounded.

Importable

Tessa (Venusaur-Mega) (F) @ Venusaurite
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Synthesis
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb

Candy (Nidoqueen) @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Roar
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam

Vivian (Gengar) (F) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Trick
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Wave
- Focus Blast

Morticia (Tentacruel) (F) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Liquid Ooze
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Calm Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Scald
- Giga Drain
- Haze

Craig (Skuntank) (M) @ Air Balloon
Ability: Aftermath
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpA
Lonely Nature
- Pursuit
- Sucker Punch
- Fire Blast
- Poison Jab

Ace (Nidoking) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Earth Power
- Sludge Wave
- Ice Beam
- Flamethrower

 

[zolaski]

Haii. I'll give you a rate.

The Team is ok overall, but it lacks some things : mainly Stealth Rock and Stallbreaker. Let me suggest you.

• Weezing -> Defensive Nidoqueen : It fits better in the team, and it can setup Rocks + Phazing or Toxic Spikes, which is pretty appreciated in your team.
• Mega-Venusaur : I would consider running 20 EVs instead of some HPs to outspeed Base 80 without invest (Togekiss, Skarmory ect.) which's a good thing.
• Nidoking : BoltBeam isn't needed on Nidoking. Flamethrower is actually better to wreck up Steel for example.
• Gengar : Trick on Dazzling Gleam. For some walls or setup sweepers. More usefull than Gleam.
• Tentacruel -> Scolipede : The Band brings up to the team a better offensive pressure and a Physical Wallbreaker, and also a strong answer against some types like Flying (when Skarm is gone), Fire and Steel.
• Drapion -> Skuntank : As your Hoopa/Psychic Check i would suggest you Skuntank. It got Pursuit + Sucker Punch which makes it a pretty good revenger killer for Psychic and weak mons. And it also can be your defogger.

importable

Venusaur-Mega @ Venusaurite
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 232 HP / 252 Def / 20 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Synthesis
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb

Scolipede @ Choice Band
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 16 HP / 252 Atk / 240 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Megahorn
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
- Aqua Tail

Gengar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Wave
- Trick
- Focus Blast

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

Skuntank @ Air Balloon
Ability: Aftermath
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpA
Naive Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Pursuit
- Fire Blast
- Defog

Nidoqueen @ Black Sludge
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 248 HP / 240 Def / 20 SpA
Bold Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Roar
- Ice Beam
- Earth Power

also s/out to Dece1t for the inspiration. Check out his RMT lel.

 

[terrors]

Hi, I'll give you a rate. I'll overlap quite a lot with MiyoKa though.

->

Weezing is uneeded. Venusaur acts as your physically defensive sponge/wall, with more reliable recovery, better typing, and a good offensive presence. There is little reason to run Weezing, so I would recommend changing it to Shuca Nidoqueen. Not only does Nidoqueen provide rocks but it also has an amazing offensive presence and great coverage easing the bulk off Nidoking. Shuca makes it an excellent lure to strong Ground-type Pokemon that can otherwise run through this team, such as Landorus I, Landorus T, Excadrill, and Garchomp.

set

Nidoqueen @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam
- Flamethrower
- Stealth Rock

Thunderbolt hits nothing important. Most Water-types can outspeed and kill it with ease, while Flying teams don't have a switchin to Ice Beam anyway, maybe besides like Gyarados? You say it hits Skarmory and Togekiss, but changing Ice Beam to Flamethrower will let you hit Skarmory anyway, and Togekiss takes more damage from Sludge Wave.

set

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

->

Lastly, I suggest swutching out Drapion for Skuntank, which is overall a superior Dark/Poison type, with access to Sucker Punch. It can also run Fire Blast to hit Skarmory, something Drapion can't. Defog is an alternate option to provide hazard removal, but on a team with Tentacruel, that's unnecessary. If you do decide to switch it out for Scolipede as MiyoKa suggested, you can run Defog over Poison Jab

set

Skuntank @ Air Balloon
Ability: Aftermath
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpA
Naughty Nature
- Pursuit
- Sucker Punch
- Poison Jab
- Fire Blast

hope I helped and good luck!

 

[Blumenwitz]

I've just been test running out some of your suggested changes, and they've been working pretty well for me! Here's a replay that I'm particularly proud of, in which I win a close match against a Ground team:

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/monotype-454840401

My victory here was a matter of taking as many opportunities as I could to get Venusaur in and start spamming Giga Drain, while using Gengar and Skuntank to keep Landorus at bay. Skuntank is actually a pretty effective, if not wholly reliable, Landorus check.

In short, thank you very much! I'll apply the changes to the OP shortly.

 

[maroon]

Hey Blumenwitz, cool team! I have a few tweaks I would make

-Offensive Nidoqueen could allow you to run greater coverage overall for your team

Offensive Rocks Setting Nidoqueen
Nidoqueen @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 180 HP / 252 SpA / 76 Spe
Modest Nature
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam
- Stealth Rock
- Sludge Wave

This allows the team to open up a slot as it now it fills nidokings role while still setting rocks.

Since Nidoking is no longer on the team you can add the 3rd part to your counter psy core with Life Orb Scolipede

Scolipede @ Life Orb
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Megahorn
- Earthquake / Superpower
- Poison Jab
- Protect

This allows Scolipede to come in and revenge kill a weakened foe easily and unlike the band set it has the ability to protect so Victini can't easily revenge kill it with scarfed v-create while this set also allows you to scout what sets your opponent is running while steadily getting an increase to your speed.

Better Skunktank Set
Skuntank @ Air Balloon
Ability: Aftermath
EVs: 240 HP / 84 Def / 184 Spe
Naughty Nature
- Defog
- Sucker Punch
- Pursuit
- Fire Blast

This skuntank has enough defense to live a +2 Mega Scizor's bullet punch after rocks and does 85 min in return with fire blast. It has enough speed to outspeed adamant max speed Mega Scizor. It also guaranteed lives a hit from Victini after rocks. It can also trap Hoopa-Unbound. 1 True Lycan's set

New Team

Tessa (Venusaur-Mega) (F) @ Venusaurite
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Synthesis
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb

Nidoqueen @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 180 HP / 252 SpA / 76 Spe
Modest Nature
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam
- Stealth Rock
- Sludge Wave

Vivian (Gengar) (F) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Trick
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Wave
- Focus Blast

Morticia (Tentacruel) (F) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Liquid Ooze
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Calm Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Scald
- Giga Drain
- Haze

Scolipede @ Life Orb
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Megahorn
- Earthquake / Superpower
- Poison Jab
- Protect

Skuntank @ Air Balloon
Ability: Aftermath
EVs: 240 HP / 84 Def / 184 Spe
Naughty Nature
- Defog
- Sucker Punch
- Pursuit
- Fire Blast

​