Grass RMT

Hey there, it's Sly Mav aka Rum & Coke.

The following is a RMT of my winning grass team for the monotype room CCGr1 core challenge.

The CCGr1 core comprised of Whimsicott and Venusaur (mega optional). As soon as I saw this core, the first idea that came to mind was Mega Venusaur with a Curse set, which I had used previously with much success in CCPo1. Whimsicott was completely new to me but I decided to go with an offensive-Prankster set, because I main electric and have experience with Thundurus-Incarnate.

I knew the key to any success with CCGr1 would be finding ways to counter grass’ 5 weaknesses. As such, I needed two pokemon to complement each other defensively. These were Ludicolo to defend fire/ice, and Ferrothorn for poison/flying. I needed a physical sweeper and a pokemon that could protect Venusaur from its psychic weakness, so I chose Shiftry. Finally to help against the numerous flying-type threats, I brought in my offensive scarf Rotom-Mow from my electric team.

CCGr1 Squad:

Ludicolo @ Assault Vest
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252HP / 252 SpA
Modest Nature
- Scald
- Giga Drain
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Whimsicott @ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Taunt
- Moonblast
- Encore
- Psychic

Venusaur @ Venusaurite
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk /  4 SpD
Careful Nature
- Curse
- Petal Blizzard
- Earthquake
- Synthesis

Shiftry @ Lum Berry
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Leaf Blade
- Rock Slide

Ferrothorn @ Focus Sash
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Protect
- Gyro Ball

Rotom-Mow @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Trick
- Thunderbolt

With 3 of grass’ weaknesses being vulnerable to rock, sash on Ferrothorn was important to ensure rocks went up at least once and hence was the usual lead. Gyro Ball took care of Unburden Hawlucha, Mega Diancie and Unburden Slurpuff, with sash intact. Ludicolo was my dependable switch in for flamethrower/ice beam spam. It also saved me from Swift Swim water teams and offensive special sweepers in general. Whimsicott was great at disabling set-up sweepers and for building offensive momentum. But what really turned the tide for me in many battles, was its surprising offensive presence with STAB Moonblast, which destroyed both Dragon and Fighting. Shiftry’s Chlorophyll was extremely useful against fire teams with Charizard Y or Ninetales, thanks to Rock Slide. Lum Berry ensured that I got a free extra Swords Dance against status users, allowing me to set up a potential sweep – this was especially effective against Mega Sableye, who was often ko’d by +4 Leaf Blade. It also did a great job of sweeping ghost and psychic, with an Adamant nature adding that extra power to Sucker Punch. Rotom dealt with flying threats such as Skarmory (4x resistance to grass stab), Mega Pinsir & Mega Pidgeot. HP Ice took care of threats like Landorus Incarnate, Gliscor, Dragonite, etc. Trick -  with the aid of Whimsi’s encore - disabled set up Pokemon such as Cosmic Power Clefable or Sigilyph. The usual goal however was to pave the way for curse Venusaur to unleash terror on opposing teams. After two curses, it would win most games except for against STAB Psychic moves, which Shiftry was used to take care of, where possible.

As for threats, it would be an easier task to list the pokemon that DO NOT threaten grass, than those that do.  Top of the list is easily Mega Pinsir and Bug.

Bug: Mega Pinsir (If it uses Swords Dance, you might as well forfeit) +  Volcarona, Genesect, Scolipede and Mega Heracross.
Generic Flying:  Skarmory, Scarf Togekiss, Mega Charizard X.
Ground: Sand rush Excadrill, Sand Force Mega Garchomp, Mamoswine.
Steel: Mega Metagross, Skarmory.
Poison: Drapion and Specs Adaptability Dragalge.
Normal: Scarf Staraptor and Mega Pidgeot.
Fire: Entei and Fletchinder.
Ice: Cloyster, Kyurem-Black.
Water: Greninja, Manaphy, Cloyster.
Dragon: Specs Dragalge, Scarf Kyurem-Black.
Fighting: Unburden Hawlucha, Mega Gallade/Mega Medicham, Choiced Infernape.
Psychic: Mew, Mega Medicham

Overall, laddering with grass was a very frustrating experience - Limited coverage moves, several difficult type matchups, many overused Pokemon that resist grass stab and of course the 5 weaknesses. Rock was probably the only match up where I truly had the advantage, which says a lot for how difficult grass is to use when Rock was the statistically least used type in recent data. Water is too versatile a type to get comfortable around and generic sand rush/sand force ground was an uphill task. Finally, MVP of this challenge has to go to Whimsicott – offensive prankster OP. Special Mention: Shiftry aka the Grass Bisharp.

Thanks for reading.
~Sly