Everybody Wants To Rule the World: 500th Post RMT
"If people knew how little brain [matter] is ruling the world, they would die of fear." - Ivo Andric
Table of Contents
i. Shoutouts
ii. Teambuilding Process
iii. The Team
iv. Replays
v. Threatlist
I. Shoutouts
Over the time I've been on Smogon, Monotype always seemed interesting to me. From my first team, where I slapped Hyper Beam on anything that could learn it, to now, the community has (mostly) always supported me. Here are some of the biggest helpers from the community, but truly everyone, from the newer players (like myself!) to the veterans deserve a shoutout here. Let me keep it short.
Neko - You have helped me so much with the 4 analyses that I've written so far. I know Klefki was a slog and a half, but your checks really helped me improve my writing and metagame knowledge, and thanks to you, I now have 4 analyses published and a 5th on the way!
mushamu - You tried your best to help my (admittedly mediocre) battling skills improve, and you definitely succeeded. Now I can actually beat people! Anyways, thanks for all your help as my battling tutor. I enjoyed playing Gen 8 Mono with you (and eking out the occasional Monotype moment win!)
autumn - Thanks for helping me with my AMGP checks and connecting me with my current GP tutor. Once I get into GP, you'll be the person that got me into it fully.
I've been quite a unknown in the Monotype community, so I naturally don't know very many people, but I'd like to shout out the current Monotype QC team for their part in the analyses I've written (Klefki was terrible, but I'd like to think I've gotten better).
II. Teambuilding Process
Torkoal is the sun setter of the team, and provides entry hazards and removal. It's a great piece of the team, and any Fire team is unviable without it.
Cinderace is the resident thermonuclear weapon. Pyro Ball does millions in sun (seriously, it absolutely wipes even resists off the earth), while High Jump Kick provides coverage, Court Change is another form of hazard control, and U-turn is for momentum. I added it for the power it brings.
Rotom-Heat serves as the ground immunity, pivot, and Choice Scarfer for the team. In alpha versions of this team, I originally had Scovillain and Volcarona as my only ground neutralities; that certainly didn't work, so Rotom-Heat was added, and it has performed insanely well.
Volcarona is the setup sweeper of the team. I added it to clean up the scraps left by the scorching heat of our team. Additionally, it can work as a soft check to physical attackers by using it as a sacrifice to afflict them with a debilitating burn.
Skeledirge is the true physical wall of the team. It can firmly stand in the way of large threats such as Swords Dance Kingambit and Iron Treads and hit them with burns, severely limiting their threat factor against this team. Additionally, I wrote the analysis, so how could I not include it on my team?
Scovillain is the final member of this team. Its prodigious power and speed control in Sun lets it find a great place on Fire teams, and its Grass STAB is invaluable against Water-types. It has enough bulk to take a hit or two from the burned threats mentioned before, and can use its power to sweep unprepared teams.
III. The Team
@ Heat Rock
Ability: Drought
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
Stealth Rock
Lava Plume
Rapid Spin
Body Press
Say, that you'll never, never, never need it
One headline, why believe it?
Standard Torkoal here folks, not much else to see. Heat Rock lets Sun stay up for longer so that you can nuke things more effectively, but Heavy-Duty Boots is also a decent option if you want more longevity (after all, you are bringing this thing in multiple times throughout a match). The given EVs make it as physically bulky as possible. The moveset is standard; you can slot in Yawn for extra momentum, but I wouldn't recommend it. Lava Plume is great since you can use your good physical bulk to force stuff like physical Dragapult or defensive Great Tusk out due to the threat of a burn. Body Press scares Ting-Lu more than anything else barring Yawn would.
@ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Libero
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
Pyro Ball
High Jump Kick
Court Change
U-turn
Welcome to your life
There's no turning back
Considering I created this set, I don't have very much to say whatsoever. Pyro Ball in Sun does millions, while High Jump Kick provides valuable coverage against Dark-types, namely Ting-Lu and the Dark/Dragons. Court Change provides hazard control, while U-turn provides you with a momentum-keeping tool.
@ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
Overheat
Volt Switch
Thunderbolt
Trick
There's a room where the light won't find you
Holding hands while the walls come tumbling down
Scarf Rotom-H serves as the glue of this team. It can come in on the fairly plentiful Ground-type moves in the tier and fire off either strong Overheats or keep up the momentum with Volt Switch. Against slower teams, giving something like Toxapex a Choice Scarf can be devastating to that team composition, letting you break through far easier. A Timid nature lets this outpace Quaquaval and Gyarados at +1 (thanks for the suggestion Neko!) This thing is irreplaceable.
@ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
Quiver Dance
Bug Buzz
Flamethrower
Giga Drain /
Psychic
Acting on your best behavior
Turn your back on Mother Nature
Volcarona is the resident setup sweeper of the team. It's a very simple set: set up, then win. Bug Buzz is mandatory, since it actually hits Ting-Lu hard enough to beat it 1 on 1, while Flamethrower is STAB. The final slot is changeable, as Giga Drain provides some much-needed recovery, while Psychic makes this set more offensive by hurting Toxapex and Unaware Clodsire. Additionally, it is an emergency check to threats such as Mimikyu and Great Tusk, as Flame Body lets you destroy their setup chances with a burn.
@ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 248 HP / 236 Def / 8 SpD / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
Torch Song
Shadow Ball
Will-O-Wisp
Slack Off
It's my own design
It's my own remorse
Skeledirge is the team's physical wall. It is key to this team, as it soft-checks stuff like Iron Treads, Great Tusk, and Kingambit, which are all massive threats to this team. However, burns completely ruin most of these massive threats and let your attackers survive one hit and win the game from there. Torch Song lets you outdo other walls such as non-Unaware Clodsire, and 1v1 Toxapex without Toxic (although I doubt you'd want to do that). Additionally, Hex lets you hurt Unaware Clodsire and the aforementioned Toxapex with a 130 BP STAB move. Finally, reliable recovery is a godsend against forced switches from opponents fearful of burns. 16 Speed lets you outspeed normal Kingambit by one point.
@ Choice Specs
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe OR 116 SpA / 136 Def / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
Fire Blast
Giga Drain
Flamethrower
Solar Beam
Nothing ever lasts forever
Everybody wants to rule the world
Finally, Scovillain. It's one of the biggest members of this team. I prefer Choice Specs, since you don't have to waste a Sun turn setting up Growth and play chances on your rather lacking bulk. Additionally, your power is fearsome even without Growth boosting, since STAB Solar Beam and Sun-boosted STAB Flamethrowers threaten tons of things such as Ting-Lu, Greninja, and Water-types. The standard EV spread lets you hit harder, but 136 Defense EVs let you take a Kingambit Sucker Punch with 5 allies fainted from full.
IV. Replays
vs.
: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9monotype-1829255999
vs.
: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9monotype-1829262826
vs.
: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9monotype-1830334153
vs.
: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9monotype-1830197694
vs.
: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9monotype-1838299690
vs.
: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9monotype-1839997069
vs.
: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9monotype-1844199801
V. Threatlist
/ 
Great Tusk and Iron Treads are, and always will be, a threat to any serious Fire-type team. While this team does have resources to handle it, namely Rotom-Heat to switch into their Ground STAB and Scovillain to outspeed and KO it with its Grass STAB (or Fire STAB in Iron Treads' case), they can very easily claim a kill every single time it comes in. Compounding this is the fact that it threatens our two biggest hazard removal options in Torkoal and Cinderace, and you have quite a large problem. However, Iron Treads is more manageable, considering you can take an Earthquake, burn it with Skeledirge, and Slack Off the damage. Against both, use the methods I described in this text block and burn them with Skeledirge. However, be aware that trying to burn offensive Great Tusk will lead to you having your Skeledirge at 5%, making it unable to answer anything else.
Greninja is quite a decent threat to this team. Even under sun, Hydro Pump hurts everything. Your best bet is to surprise it with Scarf Rotom-Heat or revenge kill it with Scovillain, but those strategies are not foolproof whatsoever. Just try to keep Sun up whenever you can; otherwise, you get steamrolled by Scarf Greninja.
While Clodsire isn't too large of a threat, it can still annoy the team. Against it, you can either 1v1 it with Skeledirge and burn it so its Earthquakes do pitiful damage and either boost with Torch Song against Water Absorb or Hex against Unaware variants. Additionally, Scovillain can pick it off in some cases, although Clodsire is quite adept at stalling out Sun turns with Recover.
Good lord, this singlehandedly makes me want to stop playing for the day. Oddly, Water is a much better matchup for this team than Dragon, but this is the main reason I lose games to both types. On both, Protosynthesis-boosted Hydro Steams singlehandedly win the matchup, while Choice Scarf variants are just a travesty into this team. Pray that it's not Scarf, and then take it out with Scovillain (in sun) and Rotom-H. You will inevitably have to hope for a misplay, though.
Specifically, the Power Gem variant. Normal Flutter Mane is manageable with Cinderace (nothing OHKOs and Cinderace kills it with Pyro Ball), but with Power Gem, it 6-0s the team. If it's Speed boosting (which it usually is) or Choice Scarf (which non-Speed boosting sets usually run) with Power Gem, nothing outspeeds (Scovillain in Sun hits 573, while Protosynthesis or Choice Scarf Flutter Mane hits 607). Fortunately, Power Gem isn't too common (most run STABs + Psyshock to hit Poisons and Thunderbolt to hit Waters / Mystical Fire for Steels).
VI. A Farewell
"No one ever says goodbye unless they want to see you again." - John Green, Turtles All the Way Down
And so it is. My spotty availability has made tour scheduling a nightmare for whoever faces me (seriously, I'm sorry). But I do hope to find success in this community sometime soon, whether it be SV, SS, SM, or really any Monotype tier. Who knows? I could be in the Hall of Fame someday. This could be a sample team (it's in the submission phase right now). The world is full of uncertainties, but I'll say one thing to the Monotype community with certainty: I'll see you around.
"If people knew how little brain [matter] is ruling the world, they would die of fear." - Ivo Andric
Table of Contents
i. Shoutouts
ii. Teambuilding Process
iii. The Team
iv. Replays
v. Threatlist
I. Shoutouts
Over the time I've been on Smogon, Monotype always seemed interesting to me. From my first team, where I slapped Hyper Beam on anything that could learn it, to now, the community has (mostly) always supported me. Here are some of the biggest helpers from the community, but truly everyone, from the newer players (like myself!) to the veterans deserve a shoutout here. Let me keep it short.
Neko - You have helped me so much with the 4 analyses that I've written so far. I know Klefki was a slog and a half, but your checks really helped me improve my writing and metagame knowledge, and thanks to you, I now have 4 analyses published and a 5th on the way!
mushamu - You tried your best to help my (admittedly mediocre) battling skills improve, and you definitely succeeded. Now I can actually beat people! Anyways, thanks for all your help as my battling tutor. I enjoyed playing Gen 8 Mono with you (and eking out the occasional Monotype moment win!)
autumn - Thanks for helping me with my AMGP checks and connecting me with my current GP tutor. Once I get into GP, you'll be the person that got me into it fully.
I've been quite a unknown in the Monotype community, so I naturally don't know very many people, but I'd like to shout out the current Monotype QC team for their part in the analyses I've written (Klefki was terrible, but I'd like to think I've gotten better).
II. Teambuilding Process
Torkoal is the sun setter of the team, and provides entry hazards and removal. It's a great piece of the team, and any Fire team is unviable without it.
Cinderace is the resident thermonuclear weapon. Pyro Ball does millions in sun (seriously, it absolutely wipes even resists off the earth), while High Jump Kick provides coverage, Court Change is another form of hazard control, and U-turn is for momentum. I added it for the power it brings.
Rotom-Heat serves as the ground immunity, pivot, and Choice Scarfer for the team. In alpha versions of this team, I originally had Scovillain and Volcarona as my only ground neutralities; that certainly didn't work, so Rotom-Heat was added, and it has performed insanely well.
Volcarona is the setup sweeper of the team. I added it to clean up the scraps left by the scorching heat of our team. Additionally, it can work as a soft check to physical attackers by using it as a sacrifice to afflict them with a debilitating burn.
Skeledirge is the true physical wall of the team. It can firmly stand in the way of large threats such as Swords Dance Kingambit and Iron Treads and hit them with burns, severely limiting their threat factor against this team. Additionally, I wrote the analysis, so how could I not include it on my team?
Scovillain is the final member of this team. Its prodigious power and speed control in Sun lets it find a great place on Fire teams, and its Grass STAB is invaluable against Water-types. It has enough bulk to take a hit or two from the burned threats mentioned before, and can use its power to sweep unprepared teams.
III. The Team
Ability: Drought
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
Say, that you'll never, never, never need it
One headline, why believe it?
Standard Torkoal here folks, not much else to see. Heat Rock lets Sun stay up for longer so that you can nuke things more effectively, but Heavy-Duty Boots is also a decent option if you want more longevity (after all, you are bringing this thing in multiple times throughout a match). The given EVs make it as physically bulky as possible. The moveset is standard; you can slot in Yawn for extra momentum, but I wouldn't recommend it. Lava Plume is great since you can use your good physical bulk to force stuff like physical Dragapult or defensive Great Tusk out due to the threat of a burn. Body Press scares Ting-Lu more than anything else barring Yawn would.
Ability: Libero
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
Welcome to your life
There's no turning back
Considering I created this set, I don't have very much to say whatsoever. Pyro Ball in Sun does millions, while High Jump Kick provides valuable coverage against Dark-types, namely Ting-Lu and the Dark/Dragons. Court Change provides hazard control, while U-turn provides you with a momentum-keeping tool.
@ Choice Scarf Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
There's a room where the light won't find you
Holding hands while the walls come tumbling down
Scarf Rotom-H serves as the glue of this team. It can come in on the fairly plentiful Ground-type moves in the tier and fire off either strong Overheats or keep up the momentum with Volt Switch. Against slower teams, giving something like Toxapex a Choice Scarf can be devastating to that team composition, letting you break through far easier. A Timid nature lets this outpace Quaquaval and Gyarados at +1 (thanks for the suggestion Neko!) This thing is irreplaceable.
@ Heavy-Duty Boots Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
Acting on your best behavior
Turn your back on Mother Nature
Volcarona is the resident setup sweeper of the team. It's a very simple set: set up, then win. Bug Buzz is mandatory, since it actually hits Ting-Lu hard enough to beat it 1 on 1, while Flamethrower is STAB. The final slot is changeable, as Giga Drain provides some much-needed recovery, while Psychic makes this set more offensive by hurting Toxapex and Unaware Clodsire. Additionally, it is an emergency check to threats such as Mimikyu and Great Tusk, as Flame Body lets you destroy their setup chances with a burn.
@ Heavy-Duty Boots Ability: Unaware
EVs: 248 HP / 236 Def / 8 SpD / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
It's my own design
It's my own remorse
Skeledirge is the team's physical wall. It is key to this team, as it soft-checks stuff like Iron Treads, Great Tusk, and Kingambit, which are all massive threats to this team. However, burns completely ruin most of these massive threats and let your attackers survive one hit and win the game from there. Torch Song lets you outdo other walls such as non-Unaware Clodsire, and 1v1 Toxapex without Toxic (although I doubt you'd want to do that). Additionally, Hex lets you hurt Unaware Clodsire and the aforementioned Toxapex with a 130 BP STAB move. Finally, reliable recovery is a godsend against forced switches from opponents fearful of burns. 16 Speed lets you outspeed normal Kingambit by one point.
@ Choice Specs Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe OR 116 SpA / 136 Def / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
Nothing ever lasts forever
Everybody wants to rule the world
Finally, Scovillain. It's one of the biggest members of this team. I prefer Choice Specs, since you don't have to waste a Sun turn setting up Growth and play chances on your rather lacking bulk. Additionally, your power is fearsome even without Growth boosting, since STAB Solar Beam and Sun-boosted STAB Flamethrowers threaten tons of things such as Ting-Lu, Greninja, and Water-types. The standard EV spread lets you hit harder, but 136 Defense EVs let you take a Kingambit Sucker Punch with 5 allies fainted from full.
IV. Replays
vs.
vs.
vs.
vs.
vs.
vs.
vs.
V. Threatlist
/ Great Tusk and Iron Treads are, and always will be, a threat to any serious Fire-type team. While this team does have resources to handle it, namely Rotom-Heat to switch into their Ground STAB and Scovillain to outspeed and KO it with its Grass STAB (or Fire STAB in Iron Treads' case), they can very easily claim a kill every single time it comes in. Compounding this is the fact that it threatens our two biggest hazard removal options in Torkoal and Cinderace, and you have quite a large problem. However, Iron Treads is more manageable, considering you can take an Earthquake, burn it with Skeledirge, and Slack Off the damage. Against both, use the methods I described in this text block and burn them with Skeledirge. However, be aware that trying to burn offensive Great Tusk will lead to you having your Skeledirge at 5%, making it unable to answer anything else. Greninja is quite a decent threat to this team. Even under sun, Hydro Pump hurts everything. Your best bet is to surprise it with Scarf Rotom-Heat or revenge kill it with Scovillain, but those strategies are not foolproof whatsoever. Just try to keep Sun up whenever you can; otherwise, you get steamrolled by Scarf Greninja. While Clodsire isn't too large of a threat, it can still annoy the team. Against it, you can either 1v1 it with Skeledirge and burn it so its Earthquakes do pitiful damage and either boost with Torch Song against Water Absorb or Hex against Unaware variants. Additionally, Scovillain can pick it off in some cases, although Clodsire is quite adept at stalling out Sun turns with Recover. Good lord, this singlehandedly makes me want to stop playing for the day. Oddly, Water is a much better matchup for this team than Dragon, but this is the main reason I lose games to both types. On both, Protosynthesis-boosted Hydro Steams singlehandedly win the matchup, while Choice Scarf variants are just a travesty into this team. Pray that it's not Scarf, and then take it out with Scovillain (in sun) and Rotom-H. You will inevitably have to hope for a misplay, though. Specifically, the Power Gem variant. Normal Flutter Mane is manageable with Cinderace (nothing OHKOs and Cinderace kills it with Pyro Ball), but with Power Gem, it 6-0s the team. If it's Speed boosting (which it usually is) or Choice Scarf (which non-Speed boosting sets usually run) with Power Gem, nothing outspeeds (Scovillain in Sun hits 573, while Protosynthesis or Choice Scarf Flutter Mane hits 607). Fortunately, Power Gem isn't too common (most run STABs + Psyshock to hit Poisons and Thunderbolt to hit Waters / Mystical Fire for Steels). VI. A Farewell
"No one ever says goodbye unless they want to see you again." - John Green, Turtles All the Way Down
And so it is. My spotty availability has made tour scheduling a nightmare for whoever faces me (seriously, I'm sorry). But I do hope to find success in this community sometime soon, whether it be SV, SS, SM, or really any Monotype tier. Who knows? I could be in the Hall of Fame someday. This could be a sample team (it's in the submission phase right now). The world is full of uncertainties, but I'll say one thing to the Monotype community with certainty: I'll see you around.
Last edited:
