(Mono) The Deeper, The Darker

[Team Rocket Fan]

The Deeper, The Darker

Dark is one of my favourite types, maybe the third under Normal and Poison. I decided that I want to try some Monotype teams for the first time in my life. It's my first one, so don't be to hard on me. I wanted to use my favourite pokemon and I think most of them are preety good. Any idea is welcomed although I'd prefer to keep the same pokemon:

Liepard (F) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Prankster
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 160 Def / 96 SpD
Careful Nature
- Substitute
- Thunder Wave
- Taunt
- Knock Off

One of my favourite Dark Types if not my favourite. It's role is the Leader. I haven't tried this set myshelf, but I have battled against it once, in the Battle Spot. It was the most annoying set I have ever battled! So, the defences this way are equal and the HP is MAX. Although Liepard is really frail, I have to support his Defensive Stats as much as possible for this set. Prankaster lets it attack first with its 3 Status Moves, Subsitute that protects it with a cost of a bit health, Thunder Wave that insures the most annoying Special Condition witll infect the opponent and Taunt that stops Set Up Sweepers. Liepard can be fast enough to manage a Knock Off can deal a respective amount of damage as it gains STAB and also removes the opponent's held item. The Sitrus Berry is for back up after some Subsitutes.

Sableye (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Confuse Ray
- Toxic
- Recover

At first impression Sableye seemed to me not only freaky and creepy but also useless and weak too. My whole impression has changed since I saw him in his Shiny form and decided to catch and train one. So..Prankaster is for the same reason Liepard has it too. I have invested everything in HP and SpDef only because Will-O-Wisp deals damage from turn to turn but also halves the infected pokemon's Attack stat, so Sableye will have no problem. Confuse Ray also deals damage if I get lucky and protects me from losing health too. Toxic is for annoying Fire Types that won't take Will-O-Wisp and are hopefully Special Attackers. Recover and Leftovers are the move and item of choise for recovery.

Mandibuzz (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 252 HP / 36 Def / 220 SpD
Impish Nature
- Toxic
- Roost
- Defog
- Foul Play

Mandibuzz, I think this is my favourite big time Dark Type. She is so great looking and great in battle with many possible options. Her moveset is split in 2 combos. Toxic-Roost for Stalling and Swagger-Foul Play that never gets old. I guess they are both quite self-explanation. Toxic destroys the opponent while you keep roosting yourself while Swagger is used to confuse the opponent that may hit himself harder that usual because of the sharp boost he gets on his Attack Stat. While under this effect Foul Play will also hit harder and harder after every Swagger. Leftovers is onoce again the item of choice. Overcoat is the best ability for Mandibuzz because she won't be affected by nasty Grass Type moves like Spore or Sleep Powder.

Crawdaunt (M) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Crabhammer
- Knock Off
- Aqua Jet

I must say that although I always loved Crawdaunt and his design, when I first saw his stats the only thing that impressed me was his Attack. But then I managed to find his true potential. That's the set that dominated the Battle Maison and Wi-Fi battles. Focus Sash alows him to set a Dragon Dance getting him a boost ready for Sweep. Crabhammer is in my opinion the best Water Type move and I prefer it over Waterfall although it's 90% accurasy, because of better chanse to land a Critical Hit and 20 more power. Knock Off is the best option for Crawdaunt since it gains STAB and kills everyone that holds an item. And mostly everyone does. Aqua Jet gives Priority against some beasts that outspeed him after a Dragon Dance and manages to KO them most of the time. Adaptability is another reason that Crawdaunt is AMAZING! It boosts even more the moves that gain a STAB.

Mightyena (F) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Crunch
- Play Rough
- Sucker Punch
- Retaliate

Recently Mightyena started appealing me and I started using her. I must admit I never managed to understand her true potential because of her pour Speed and Defences. But a very good option in this pokemon is it's ability, Moxie. Moxie boosts the ability barrier's Attack by one stage after every faint it manages to cause. So the plan is: I send out Mightyena right after the opponent is weakened to ensure a kill and a boost. Choise Scarf is the item so Mightyena can have a respectful amount fo Speed. Crunch is the main STAB with a good chance to lower Defence and average to good power. Play Rough is to deal with Fighting types that threaten this team and also Dragon and other Dark type Teams. Sucker Punch is the priority move while Retaliate almost ensures a faint after one of Mightyena's teammates faints too.

Honchkrow (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- Night Slash
- Sucker Punch
- Superpower

Last but not least, the Boss pokemon. Honchkrow. I always liked him! HIs upper level Attack and great design stole my impression from the begining. He is something like a Mightyena. Just a bit faster and can hit a lot harder! Life Orb ensures almost every pokemon will faint under the wings of Honchkrow letting his Brave Bird hit harder than a MAX Attack Ho-Oh's. Although really risky in a combination of Life Orb, Brave Bird is his best attack gaining a STAB as well. Night Slash, is another STAB move with a higher chance for Critical Hit. Sucker Punch is for priority because Honchkrow really needs it. Superpower, lowers Attack and Defence but it's worth it as most of the time the lower Attack will be nothing because of Moxie. Also Superpower is an amazing coverage ove for Honchkrow as it hits 50% of his weaknesses super-effectively. Ice and Rock are a threaten for Honchkrow no more.

I'd also like to add a question: Do you think I should use Mega Sableye or normal Sableye????

Well????


Note: I just noticed, I have no Special Attackers....

 

[Professor Palutena]

First thing to note, Swagger (you have it on Mandibuzz) is banned competitively so you'll have to replace it. I suggest Defog for eliminating entry hazards.

A lot of your Pokemon choices suffer from inferiority complexes. One harsh reality of competitive battling is that you can't always use your favorites and expect to win. In particular, Liepard and Mightyena are really poor choices for teams in any situation due to their terrible stats and I would also consider putting Crawdaunt and Honchkrow in here too.

So let's try to work with what we have left with just Sableye and Mandibuzz. Sableye's only weakness is Fairy types and our options for Dark types that resist Fairy are Houndoom, Bisharp, Skuntank and Drapion. The first two are what I'd like to focus on. Houndoom in particular shares synergy with both Sableye and Mandibuzz. It's weak to Ground, which Mandibuzz resists, and Fighting, which Sableye is immune to. The Stealth Rock weakness that Houndoom has can be overcome by Mandibuzz's Defog. I'd make this your Mega Evolution for your team.

The other Pokemon I mentioned was Bisharp who'd make a very solid pivot on your team with an Assault Vest. You can make use of it's many resistances to switch into attacks. The Ground weakness is, again, covered by Mandibuzz. The Fire weakness is covered by Houndoom (regular Houndoom's Flash Fire works well here before you mega) and the Fighting weakness is, again, covered by Sableye. STAB Iron Head is also a great way to beat Fairy types.

At this point you've got your bases covered. The one glaring omission is Stealth Rock. Your options for this slot are Tyranitar and Krookodile. Both are going to bring a lot of weaknesses to the team. Tyranitar is probably the best bet here even though it brings more weaknesses. The Fighting and Ground weakness can only be covered up with Honchkrow and I would advise against that as stacking two Pokemon of the same type in a monotype team is generally a really bad idea.

For the last spot, I'm going to suggest regular Sharpedo as a revenge killer. Speed Boost will allow it to close out games after Mega Houndoom and Bisharp have torn some walls apart.

tl;dr version: I suggest your team to be Sableye / Mandibuzz / Mega Houndoom / Bisharp / Tyranitar / Sharpedo

Monotype teams are generally really tough to play with so I wish you the best.

 

[Cinesra]

You Mandibuzz has Big Pecks, even though you say you have Overcoat in the description. I don't know where you got that EV spread though. Maybe it's specificially tailored for monotype, but otherwise, it seems pointless. I'd think you'd want more Def investment on a mon you were trying to abuse Swagger with for the 50 percent of the time your opponent hits you with Swagger. 248 HP / 136 Def / 108 SpD / 16 Spe with Bold or Impish is the spread they run in OU that takes specific hits and outspeeds specific things that I don't feel like looking up atm, so you're probably better off using that.

Otherwise, the above team suggestion sounds pretty solid to me, although I'd say use Greninja over Sharpedo.

 

[Team Rocket Fan]

I will consider everything. Thank you for posting and helping me!