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Welcome to the latest edition of the Team Rater Competition! The tier this time around will be USM Monotype. For each round we'll post a team, and participants will have one week to complete a rate of said team. When the round is over, the participants who submitted the best rates will move onto the next round. If you are eliminated and want to receive feedback on your rate, the hosts will be more than happy to provide that upon request. Each round will last one week. Failure to rate the team within the one week time period will result in disqualification unless you're able to give us a valid reason. Please only sign up if you can commit to rating one team every week for the next month. If you're currently involved in or are looking to start rating Monotype teams, I highly encourage you to participate as this promises to be a great learning experience. Here's to a fun and competitive tournament!
Important notes:
The top two rates from each round in addition to the rates in the final round will count towards the Team Rater badge
Each round will last one week. Failure to rate the team within the one week time period will result in disqualification unless you're able to give us a valid reason. Please only sign up if you can commit to rating one team every week for the next month.
Please submit your rates to the hosts via Smogon conversation.
If you are eliminated and would like some feedback on your rate and how you can improve going forward, feel free to ask us.
At the end of each round, we will announce the best rate from that round and a quick overview of what we liked in the rates submitted.
As we move onto Round 2, we wanted to highlight our favorite rates from Round 1; congratulations to Clearly and Harpp. Their rates went in separate directions, Clearly's took a more balanced approach, while Harpp's was more offensive. Both of them however added some form of Healing Wish to the team, decided to add Victini (a staple to Psychic teams), gave the teams proper Ground resists and Mega Sharpedo check in Colbur Celebi with Recovery, and finally both teams addressed the Mimikyu problem the team had by adding another check to the threat.
With the rise of Mimikyu on Fairy-type teams and Decidueye on Grass-type teams Alakazam isn't quite as good as checking physical attackers as it used to be and both of these Pokemon can easily get a turn of set-up against things like Latios, Celebi and even Alakazam since Shadow Ball doesn't OHKO either and Mimikyu has Disguise for the first hit anyway. Alakazam also struggles to get rid of Blacephalon as it needs Stealth Rock up on the opposing team to guarantee an OHKO. ->
Meloetta is a solid check to Mimikyu as it makes it have to predict when to Play Rough and can U-turn out to break Disguise. You'll need some prior damage from Mimikyu switching in on Stealth Rock, taking Life Orb recoil, or a teammate damaging it but it does help you not just lose the matchup since Fairy is currently one of the more popular types.
My second recommended change would be to change Celebi from an offensive set to a more defensive spread. The team even with Alakazam still has a hard time dealing with Ground-type moves considering Mew is running a specially defensive spread and doesn't appreciate taking an Earthquake while Celebi has no form of recovery outside of Giga Drain.
This set allows Celebi to handle Electric-, Ground- and Water-type attacks aimed at the team a lot better and with a Colbur Berry you can guarantee you live even Adamant Mega Sharpedo's Crunch. Thunder Wave allows you to status Pokemon that see Celebi as a free set-up opportunity while U-turn lets you keep up momentum. Nasty Plot lets you break through Water- and Ground-type teams easier and is an option over U-turn.
My third recommendation is Victini over Mew. While the stallbreaker set is decent at pestering bulkier teams and removing items from them, the meta of Monotype has become more fast paced and the majority of teams outside of Normal-type ones don't really use Pokemon that Mew can beat. ->
Victini @ Normalium Z
Ability: Victory Star
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Celebrate
- Stored Power
- Searing Shot
- Focus Blast
Z-Celebrate on Victini makes the Steel-type match-up a lot more in your favor as the opposing team would need to have Bisharp and prior damage in order to deal with a boosted Victini. Stored Power threatens many types once boosted such as Electric, Poison, and Flying now that they've started running more offensively oriented teams and Searing Shot + Focus Blast deals with everything on Steel-type teams.
My fourth change to the team would be Latios. Choice Scarf Latios lacks in the amount of utility it offers the team as being locked into Defog more often than not can lead to free set-up and it's unboosted attacks are only ever useful in the Dragon match-up
With Meloetta utilizing a Choice Scarf and Celebi running Thunder Wave, Latios is able to run a set that lets it utilize the resistances it's Dragon-typing brings to the team. Roost lets it handle Fire-type moves the team would otherwise not take well and keeps it from being worn down by having to switch into Stealth Rock. Since Latios is running dual STAB on this set Soul Dew lets it keep up some offensive pressure while still being able to get rid of hazards when needed.
Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 176 SpD / 80 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Iron Head
- U-turn
- Healing Wish
My final change is to recommend that Healing Wish be placed over Toxic on Jirachi as it offers more support to the team as a whole, giving Mega Gallade or any other teammate an extra chance in a game where Jirachi might be too worn down to contribute further.
Since the above team has trouble against bug teams, I propose to replace Mew with Victini as it will not only improve bug match up for psychic type team but also relieve the pressure from Mega Gallade to take care of Steel type teams. Additionally the set I'm proposing for the team also acts as a great set up sweeper / cleaner.
Victini @ Normalium Z
Ability: Victory Star
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Celebrate
- Searing Shot
- Stored Power
- Focus Blast
As Electric type teams and Rain Water teams are quite prevalent and offensive Celebi can be easily worn out / taken care of. Also Victini and Mega Gallade now deal well with Steel teams and Mega Gallade already breaks defensive core of Poison. I suggest to use a defensive celebi set with utility support:
This set allows the team to have a defensive pivot against Pokemon like scarf excadrill, Mega Diancie, while also being able to handle Electric types like Tapu Koko, cover for Victini for Water and Ground threats etc. The set also makes sure that Alakazam isn't the only thing that can stop Mega Sharpedo from sweeping the team. Healing wish allows teammates like Mega Gallade more chances to wreck havoc.
As the team now has Jirachi which is also using a defensive set, I suggest to change Jirachi with Choice band metagross as it will not only fulfill the role of a wallbreaker but also help the team to deal with Fairy type teams much better, as it forms a core with Celebi to deal with Fairy type teams. Additionally it's priority is crucial to pick off weakened targets and it's pursuit support is nice to trap and beat Pokemon like Choice Scarf Latios in Psychic mirror.
Metagross @ Choice Band
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 76 HP / 252 Atk / 180 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Thunder Punch
- Bullet Punch
- Pursuit.
Lastly, Mega Sharpedo now commonly runs Substitute to bypass threats like Sash Alakazam, I suggest that Shadow ball be changed to Dazzling Gleam for two main reasons:
A: It will prevent Mega Sharpedo from getting Substitute against Alakazam.
Focus Blast is shaky to do that.
B. Dazzling Gleam also covers other dark type threat like Hydreigon without relying on Focus Blast.
Tapu Koko @ Choice Specs
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Grass Knot
- Volt Switch
To start this team, I wanted to make sure Tapu Koko was necessary. With Choice Specs-boosted Hidden Power Ice and Grass Knot, I can cover almost all Ground-types, specifically Gliscor and Gastrodon. Volt Switch is great for letting me pivot into my other Pokemon to abuse Electric Terrain with.
Alolan Raichu serves as both a strong wallbreaker and a fast revenge killer. I opted to run Focus Blast so that I can revenge kill Excadrill, the main Ground-type Tapu Koko struggles against. When combined with Psychic, even the Grass defensive core is easily broken. Hidden Power Ice lets me break Flying teams, since Alolan Raichu can't be outsped by anything. Since Choice Band Dragonite's Extreme Speed OHKOes Alolan Raichu anyway, Life Orb is great for giving me a bit more damage!
Zeraora @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Plasma Fists
- Bounce
- Close Combat
- Bulk Up
I decided to go with a Flyinium Z Zeraora in order to beat Fairy teams. Supersonic Skystrike takes out Tapu Bulu, and Zeraora can set up Bulk Up on almost anything. Close Combat is a good coverage move for when I'm against Grass teams, since it takes out Cradily and Ferrothorn, which don't take much from Bounce.
Rotom-W gives me a good switch-in to Excadrill. Even Choice Band Excadrill can't 3HKO Rotom-W! I can then Will-O-Wisp it, crippling it for the rest of the game. I made Rotom-W my Defogger because it can threaten a lot of Stealth Rock users with Hydro Pump, such as Tyranitar, Gliscor, and Heatran.
Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Static
EVs: 252 HP / 148 SpD / 108 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Discharge
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Heat Wave
- Roost
Zapdos is my answer to a lot of special threats like Latios and Z-Happy Hour Jirachi that are annoying to check otherwise. With Hidden Power Ice, I can bait in a lot of threats like Gliscor, Landorus, and Garchomp that try to use Zapdos as setup fodder. Heat Wave lets Zapdos hit a lot of Steel-types such as Ferrothorn and Excadrill, two big threats to the team.
Magnezone rounds out my team by being a great check to a lot of Dragon-types. STAB, Choice Specs, Analytic Flash Cannon totally breaks teams like Fairy and Dragon. It also even has the benefit of letting me beat Poison teams, since Flash Cannon beats everything that isn't Toxapex, and who switches Toxapex into Magnezone?
Tapu Koko @ Choice Specs
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Grass Knot
- Volt Switch
Just a reminder that all rates are due today @ 10pm EDT! Remember to submit your rates to both Me & Eien via Smogon Conversation. Tagging the users who still have not submitted rates.
