Monotype Fire in the Booth (Mono Fire) (Got to 1500)

[Yung Dramps]

^ hurry up gif makers pls

FIRE IN THE BOOTH

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Hey everyone, and welcome to my very first RMT! In USUM Monotype, not many types really changed, but there was one type in particular that dramatically improved: Mono Fire. Thanks to an awesome new Pokemon and plenty of new hazard removal choices, Fire has gone from being a low mid/high low tier type to actually being really fun and strong if played right.

Blacephalon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe or 252 SpA / 4 Atk / 252 Spe
Timid / Hasty Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Trick
- Shadow Ball
- Mind Blown / Smack Down

It all started with this guy. One day, I woke up, and thought to myself "You know what? I really wanna build a team using Blacephalon." Too many scrubs were overhyping Mono Ghost with this guy, so I decided to be a rebel and use a Fire team with Blacephalon. On this team, the phantom firework clown functions as my primary late-game cleaner, coming in on weakened teams to snowball what's left with one of its nigh un-resisted dual STABs and the ubiquitous Beast Boost. Trick is a great choice to cripple troublesome walls such as Toxapex and Chansey early to mid-game. The last slot is about as fillery as it gets. Mind Blown can be used as one final nuke to kill Blacephalon and allow another member of the team in. Smack Down is also a niche option to best Mega Charizard Y and +1 Volcarona.

Rotom-Heat @ Light Clay
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Volt Switch
- Light Screen
- Reflect

While I was building and asking for some initial comments in the Monotype chat room, one wise man pointed out that Dual Screens Rotom-Heat was a great choice to pair with Zard X and Victini (more on those later). I was skeptical of this, but then I tried it, and it works great. Rotom-Heat got quite the significant buff in Defog, so not only can it set screens, but it can also remove opposing screens and hazards. And for the type weak to the omnipresent Stealth Rocks, having more viable hazard removal options is a huge buff. Finally, Rotom's slowish Volt Switch allows it to immediately pivot into one of my two sweepers and start the havoc.

Torkoal @ Heat Rock
Ability: Drought
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock
- Clear Smog
- Lava Plume

Despite facing competition as a hazard remover from Rotom-Heat and Volcanion, I still believe that Torkoal remains a staple for Fire teams due to the amazing support it provides for them. Besides the obvious Drought boosting nearly all of my team's damage output, it can also function as secondary hazard removal, can set hazards on its own, and can check set-up sweepers with Clear Smog. Lava Plume hits surprisingly hard under Sun, and Lava Plume burns can really help out in sticky scenarios.

Charizard-Mega-X @ Charizardite X
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 116 HP / 252 Atk / 140 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Roost
- Flare Blitz
- Dragon Claw

What good is a Dual Screens team without some good sweepers? Here we have Mega Charizard X, undoubtedly the best physical sweeper for Fire. The given speed EVs allow Charizard to outrun Mega Lopunny after a Dragon Dance. After putting in the 252 Attack EVs, the rest is put into HP to take advantage of Zard X's above-average bulk, with Roost further complementing it, meaning Charizard can dish out the pain and stay healthy, even after all that Flare Blitz recoil.

Victini @ Normalium Z
Ability: Victory Star
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Celebrate
- Searing Shot
- Focus Blast
- Thunder / Stored Power

You took a look at my physical sweeper, now here's my special sweeper, the cute, yet devastating Z-Celebrate Victini. You've probably seen this set several times already, so I won't go into detail. The only real difference here from the norm is the option to run Thunder, which makes the Water match-up slightly less painful.

Heatran @ Air Balloon
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Taunt
- Magma Storm
- Earth Power
- Flash Cannon

Last but not least, here's the main stallbreaker of the team, Taunt Heatran. This guy can handle Chansey, Toxapex, Clefable, and can check Naganadel. The speed is handy to outspeed Pokemon like Tapu Bulu. Taunt keeps 'em from recovering, and Magma Storm keeps 'em trapped.


Threat List

Toxapex: A healthy Toxapex can Haze away the precious boosts of Zard X and Victini and stall out Torkoal, Blacephalon and Rotom. My main counter-measures for this are Trick on Blacephalon and Heatran. If those go, or are weakened too much, Toxapex will be quite the nuisance.

Naganadel: Honestly, the only real way for me to beat this is to predict a Nasty Plot and switch into Blacephalon on the set-up and KO it the next turn with Scarf Shadow Ball. This mon's wack. Not banworthy imo, but definitely really, really scary.

Heatran: Air Balloon Heatran is just a huge bother, being able to wall a lot of it. My best options for handling it are Z-Celebrate Victini and Rotom-Heat, as it can wall Heatran and Volt Switch out into something that can pick it off.

Chansey: Seeing as I have only one physical attacker on my team, you can see why Chansey is a pain in the ass. It can be dealt with using Heatran, Zard X and Blacephalon via Trick, but it's still a huge annoyance. To add further insult to injury, it can also lay down Stealth Rocks, Fire's worst enemy. Honorable mention goes to Alolan Muk, which does the same thing, but exchanges recovery and rocks for being able to hit hard and remove items.

Rock Polish Lando-T: Easily the biggest threat to this team. Once it sets up Rock Polish, checking it becomes super tough. In fact, my best bet at that point is to keep Torkoal healthy so I can sack something, switch it in and fish for a Lava Plume burn. Keeping Heatran's Air Balloon intact is critical in surviving this match-up.

(too lazy to put in image)Azumarill: Z-Belly Drum just rapes me. I just gotta get Sun up with Torkoal at that point and pray.

Conclusion
Fire type is a really fun, underrated type in the USUM meta, having seen many improvements since the original games. Rotom-Heat Dual Screens can be hard to stop in the right hands, giving room for Charizard and Victini to set up and cause mayhem. Try it out, it might just surprise you!
Replays:

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https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-662419397
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-662247476
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-662025381

Importable:

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Blacephalon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Trick
- Shadow Ball
- Mind Blown

Rotom-Heat @ Light Clay
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Volt Switch
- Light Screen
- Reflect

Torkoal @ Heat Rock
Ability: Drought
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock
- Clear Smog
- Lava Plume

Charizard-Mega-X @ Charizardite X
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 116 HP / 252 Atk / 140 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Roost
- Flare Blitz
- Dragon Claw

Victini @ Normalium Z
Ability: Victory Star
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Celebrate
- Searing Shot
- Focus Blast
- Thunder

Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Taunt
- Magma Storm
- Earth Power
- Flash Cannon

 

[smub]

Hey. This Fire team definitely looks pretty good, but I have some suggestions that can improve it:

Change Mega Charizard X's spread: A bulkier Mega Charizard X variant may sound like a nice idea, but without maximum Speed investment you miss out on outspeeding opposing Choice Scarf Pokemon like Hydreigon and Kyurem-Black. So I would suggest running 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe with a Jolly nature.

Yawn > Clear Smog on Torkoal: Clear Smog can be nice to halt setup sweepers, but Yawn can also do this while being generally more helpful in putting important threats to sleep, like Heatran and Toxapex.

These last suggestions are minor, but I'd definitely consider Hidden Power Ice on Blacephalon. Since Balloon Heatran isn't carrying Hidden Power Ice, having it on Blacephalon definitely does nicely in improving the Dragon, Ground, and Flying matchups. Another possibility can be Psyshock, which always KOs Nihilego from full health. Another thing to consider is Earthquake over Roost on Mega Charizard X. This can allow you to KO threats like Heatran and Mega Diancie after a Dragon Dance.

Here's the team after the suggested changes, I hope they helped:

Revised Team

Blacephalon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Trick
- Shadow Ball
- Mind Blown / Hidden Power Ice / Psyshock (imo Smack Down isn't necessary when the team shouldn't be struggling much with Volcarona or Mega Charizard Y)

Rotom-Heat @ Light Clay
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Volt Switch
- Light Screen
- Reflect

Torkoal @ Heat Rock
Ability: Drought
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock
- Yawn
- Lava Plume

Charizard-Mega-X @ Charizardite X
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Roost / Earthquake
- Flare Blitz
- Dragon Claw

Victini @ Normalium Z
Ability: Victory Star
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Celebrate
- Searing Shot
- Focus Blast / Thunderbolt(Thunder's bad accuracy isn't really worth it, and as far as I know there aren't any notable KOs that it gets that Thunderbolt doesn't. Also I'd say Focus Blast is more interchangeable than Stored Power.)
- Stored Power

Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Taunt
- Magma Storm
- Earth Power
- Flash Cannon