Monotype My First Monotype Team - Fire!

[DorianDaScorbanny]

Introduction:
Hiya everyone! Sword and Shield has been released for three months now, I decided I'm going to start making teams. I'm starting with Monotype and here is my first team! I'm going to start with my favourite type - Fire. I'm trying to make this team an offense team, while some of the Pokémon in this team has higher defense and HP. Anyways, please leave your opinion on the team and how I can improve it in the replies! Here is my team:

The Team:


Cinderace @ Life Orb
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Pyro Ball
- Court Change
- High Jump Kick
- U-turn

First, I started with Cinderace because it's my favourite starter and it has solid Attack and Speed and can make a really good physical attacker. I gave it 252 EVs in Attack and Speed so that it can hit even harder with its physical attack and outspeed most Pokémon. Holding the Life Orb adds even more to the damage. It's main STAB is Pyro Ball that can deal a lot of damage with a 120 base power, and Court Change is for swapping the Stealth Rock to the other side of the field because entry hazards are a big problem for my Fire-type team. High Jump Kick is for dealing with Rock-types and U-turn is useful for getting out of a sticky situation.

Rotom-Heat @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Overheat
- Will-O-Wisp
- Hex

Next up, I added Rotom-Heat so I can get more coverage. Its ability Levitate is very useful for the Ground-type immunity since Electric and Fire are both weak to Ground. Thunderbolt is a STAB move with decent power and Overheat is another really strong STAB move but maybe I should change Overheat for something else because it drops my Special Attack for 2 stages. Will-O-Wisp can lower the opponent's Attack and get chip damage on their Pokémon. For the last move, I chose Hex because it does double damage on a burned opponent. I gave it max EVs in Special Attack and Speed to get some extra damage on the Special moves and outspeed even more Pokémon.

Salazzle @ Focus Sash
Ability: Oblivious
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Sludge Wave
- Nasty Plot
- Dragon Pulse

My third Pokémon is a special attacker Salazzle. I made it hold the Focus Sash because it is really weak to Ground and an Earthquake would definitely OHKO it, and I need to survive at least one turn to get a Nasty Plot off and start sweeping with the high Special Attack and the 252 Speed EVs and the Timid Nature Speed boost. Flamethrower and Sludge Wave are the STAB moves for Salazzle, and Dragon Pulse is for coverage on Dragon-type Pokémon. I'm not that sure about Dragon Pulse though, but there aren't any other good Special moves.

Torkoal @ Eject Pack
Ability: Drought
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Overheat
- Will-O-Wisp
- Earth Power
- Solar Beam

Fourth on my team is the sun-setter Torkoal. Drought summons Sunny Day every time Torkoal switches in, and using Eject Pack + Overheat makes it a lot easier. Eject Pack switches Torkoal out every time I get a stat drop, and Overheat does exactly that - lowering its Special Attack by 2 stages and is also a really powerful move with 130 base power. Earth Power just for more coverage and the 10% Special Defense drop. Solar Beam doesn't need charging in sunlight, and is super effective to all Fire-type's weaknesses (Water, Ground, and Rock), so it's a really useful move in this Drought set.

Arcanine @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Extreme Speed
- Wild Charge
- Crunch

My next Pokémon on the team is Arcanine. Choice Band + 252 Attack EVs boosts Arcanine's Attack to sky high. Flare Blitz is the STAB move with amazing 120 base power, and can deal with some Pokémon with high defenses. Extreme Speed is for priority, when something outspeeds (which isn't that likely). Wild Charge is for coverage on Water-type Pokémon and some Flying-types, and Crunch is just for more coverage and the chance of lowering the target's Defense, so Arcanine can hit even harder. Its Ability Intimidate is for lowering the opposing Pokémon's Attack, so Arcanine can survive longer with the recoil damage of Flare Blitz.

Charizard @ Leftovers
Ability: Solar Power
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Air Slash
- Solar Beam
- Sunny Day

Last but not least, we have the original Fire-type - Charizard. I chose Charizard because it has a decent Special Attack and Speed. This is a Special set, so we have Flamethrower and Air Slash as the two STAB moves that have decent power. Also, I'm running Sunny Day for this Charizard (maybe I should change that to something else and use the Drought by Torkoal) to run Solar Beam without charging. At I stated above, Solar Beam is super effective to all three Fire-type's weaknesses - Water, Ground, and Rock. Its ability Solar Power increases Charizard's Special Attack in the sun, so it can hit really hard with its Special Attacks.

Import the team!

Cinderace @ Life Orb
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Pyro Ball
- Court Change
- High Jump Kick
- U-turn

Rotom-Heat @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Overheat
- Will-O-Wisp
- Hex

Salazzle @ Focus Sash
Ability: Oblivious
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Sludge Wave
- Nasty Plot
- Dragon Pulse

Torkoal @ Eject Pack
Ability: Drought
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Overheat
- Will-O-Wisp
- Earth Power
- Solar Beam

Arcanine @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Extreme Speed
- Wild Charge
- Crunch

Charizard @ Leftovers
Ability: Solar Power
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Air Slash
- Solar Beam
- Sunny Day

Replays:
I don't have a lot right now (because I always forget to save ), but I'll play more rounds in the future and add more here!
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8monotype-1070561662
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8monotype-1070571415

Please leave your suggestions in the comments below! :D

 

[Splash]

Hey DorianDaScorbanny this is a very solid basis for an offensive mono fire team. Fire is a very cool anti-meta pick currently, however, I do have some recommendations:

Changes

Arcanine ---> Darmanitan
--->

With the release of Pokemon Home, the OG Darminatan is now usable again. A Choice Scarf or Choice Band set would be ideal here. The former allowing you to outpace more threats and put in more work vs faster offensive teams, and the latter allows you to break through bulkier builds easier backed by Sheer Force. Darmanitan hits a lot harder and is a far better presence on an offensive Fire team than Arcanine would ever be. A sun-boosted Flare Blitz has very limited switch-ins in the tier. U-turn allows you to pivot safely on expected switch-ins. Earthquake allows you to hit Toxapex hard. Superpower allows you to OHKO Pokemon such as Thick Fat Snorlax, Hydreigon, and Tyranitar.




Cinderace


A Jolly nature is preferred on Cinderace so it is actually able to take advantage of its fantastic base 119 speed tier, outspeed the vast majority of the metagame. Heavy-Duty Boots is a a far better item on Cinderace over Life Orb as it allows Cinderace to be able to Court Change hazards back more reliably, and the added damage output does not seem that worth it.


Rotom-Heat


An offensive Rotom-H should definitely be taking advantage of a Sub-Nasty Plot set on Fire teams, over a Wisp-Hex set. Substitute allows Rotom-H to setup safely on passive foes that look to spread status, for example, Toxapex cannot break your Substitute under the sun with Scald. Nasty Plot allows Rotom-H to boost its SpA. Overheat and Thunderbolt are both STAB moves that hit hard and take advantage of Nasty Plot. Heavy-Duty Boots is also the preferred item on Rotom-H as it will not take any Stealth Rock damage upon entry.

Torkoal


Defensive Torkoal is able to provide multiple roles for Fire teams. It is able to setup sun, remove hazards (in the case you are not able to Court Change) which are detrimental to Fire teams, get up your own Stealth Rock, and potentially induce sleep in Yawn. Heat Rock is the best item for Torkoal as it is able to maximize the Sun turns for your whole team to take advantage of. Stealth Rock is very self-explanatory. Lava Plume is a more reliable sun-boosted STAB move capable of spreading burn at a high rate without dropping your stats. Rapid Spin of course as I mentioned to spin away hazards from your side of the field. Yawn prevents Torkoal from being setup on. An EV spread of 248 HP 252 Def 8 SpD with a Bold nature allows u to take physical hits more easily from the likes of Dracovish, Excadrill, and Tyranitar for instance.


Charizard


A Choice Scarf Charizard is vital to fire teams as it is able to threaten and outspeed the metagame as well as all Choice Scarfers below base 100 speed under sun. A Timid Nature is preferred as you can outpace other Scarfers such as Galarian Darmanitan. Fire Blast is a nuke under the sun backed by Solar Power. Dragon Pulse allows Charizard to put in work vs Dragon teams in particular. For Example: (252 SpA Solar Power Charizard Dragon Pulse vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Dragapult in Sun: 310-366 (97.7 - 115.4%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO). Focus Blast is able to hit Tyranitar and Hydreigon, and Solarbeam rounds out its coverage to hit Water-types.


Salazzle


The Salazzle set looks pretty good here, I'd just opt for a better item here rather than Focus Sash. Black Sludge allows Salazzle to have some passive recovery so that would have more use than Focus Sash. Life Orb could also be used for increased damage output.



Thats all I've got, hope you find these changes useful and good luck with the team!


(click on the sprites for the importable)

 

[Conflux]

Hey, so Splash did a nice job covering most stuff, I just have a few things to add on.

Salazzle

Salazzle lacks the bulk to really take advantage of Nasty Plot and that set is outclassed by its SubToxic set with Corrosion which can be menacing to deal with for many teams. Thanks to its very high Speed it can use Protect and Substitute to Toxic stall opponents and be a big nuisance. Corrosion also lets it cripple threats like Toxapex and soften up the opponent's team for your breakers to finish the job.

Charizard

I agree with Choice Scarf, but in my opinion Solar Beam doesn't work well with it because Water- and Ground-type teams can take advantage with their own weather. Instead I would suggest Air Slash which notably hits Keldeo without relying on Sun, and is great against Fighting (bar Terrakion) which is really popular on ladder at the moment because of the Home additions.

Sets

Salazzle @ Black Sludge
Ability: Corrosion
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic
- Protect
- Substitute
- Sludge Wave

Charizard @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Solar Power
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Focus Blast
- Dragon Pulse
- Air Slash

Hope you like my suggestions and good luck with the team!

 

[DorianDaScorbanny]

Thanks guys :D
I've changed my team a bit and it's working really well!