Pokemon Team Tips

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Shock and Awe

Winter is Coming
Sep 6, 2008
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Morning All, I've been playing a lot of Pokemon recently and decided that I'd like to try and make my first team that'd be fairly competitive. I'm not talking big competitions or anything, but I am trying to make something that'd work pretty well against most other teams. I'm currently setting this up,

Blaziken
Tyranitar
Metagross
Salemance
Gyrados
Latios

I have all of them caught and I'm working on getting their leveling and EVs done and good movesets. Is this team worth the effort, and do any of you experienced pokemon masters have any tips?

Also; general pokemon team discussion.
 

Dominic Crossman

New member
Apr 15, 2013
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Singles or doubles to begin with would help people a lot. From the quick glance I had, you have 4 pokes weak against ice or water, so a single good water poke with ice beam and waterfall/surf could sweep a lot of your team.

Edit:
What game are you on as Metagross (Steel pokes in general) got nerfed in this gen.
If you're playing ORAS and aren't bothered about being op, swap Salamance for Rayquaza (if you still want a dragon/flying poke)
 

Aerith

New member
Feb 25, 2015
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I only have the usual stuff to tell ya. Like keep your team mixed in Pokémon Types, watch out for which types your Pokémon are weak against, don't have offensive movesets only, have the right abilities, make sure the Pokémon you have are the Pokémon you want. Stuff like that.
 

Fractral

Tentacle God
Feb 28, 2012
1,243
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If you're planning on playing competitvely, breeding is a must. You'll want some ditto's with a variety of natures and perfect IV's (friend safari is good for this) and a basic understanding of how IV and nature inheritance works. Just catching, levelling and EV training isn't enough to compete against people who breed. Not such an issue in unranked, but if you play ranked- beware.
The biggest problem I can see with your team is that you have no defensive Pokemon. As it stands an opponent could set up against something that couldn't hurt it and then sweep with impunity, if you let them get a speed or attack boost. It's not such an issue in Doubles or 3v3 singles, though, but I'd still reccomend something that can at least wall ice/ water types, like Jellicent. Also make sure you've got something to check the most common threats in this Generation, like Mega Rayquaza, the primals, Mega Kangashkan and so on. And one thing to bear in mind, assuming you'll be playing randoms matchups- from my experience, a lot of people in there just spam all of their legendaries.
 

thesilentman

What this
Jun 14, 2012
4,513
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Its missing a defensive Pokemon, like Fractral pointed out. In fairness, we don't know the movesets and natures you have, but make sure you have something. Double check on the Smogon simulator for the whole team and it's synergy.
 

Headsprouter

Monster Befriender
Legacy
Nov 19, 2010
8,662
3
43
You know of tiers, right? Because if you're planning on going competitive with that team, you'd better be prepared to go up against a lot of...well...that team.

What I'm saying is that your team is very OU. But I'm sure you'll have fun confusing people thanks to your number of potential megas.

Competitive is about winning fights fairly and cunningly against evenly-matched opponents, not about winning every fight.
 

Dragonbums

Indulge in it's whiffy sensation
May 9, 2013
3,307
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Shock and Awe said:
Morning All, I've been playing a lot of Pokemon recently and decided that I'd like to try and make my first team that'd be fairly competitive. I'm not talking big competitions or anything, but I am trying to make something that'd work pretty well against most other teams. I'm currently setting this up,

Blaziken
Tyranitar
Metagross
Salemance
Gyrados
Latios

I have all of them caught and I'm working on getting their leveling and EVs done and good movesets. Is this team worth the effort, and do any of you experienced pokemon masters have any tips?

Also; general pokemon team discussion.
If we are just talking about choices in Pokemon here (their movesets would also be helpful.) then right off the bat you've left yourself wide open for some serious butt whooping from some common pokemon in the OU, UU tier on competitive wifi.
I'll just break this down for you:

Right now your team is very physical, all it takes is a team with Rotom and all your Pokemon sans Latios and Blaziken are practically useless due to will-o-wisps (and since most Rotoms on wifi are Rotom Wash your Blaziken is going to find itself drenched.)

Your second issue is that, sans Metagross you don't have anything to really deal with Fairy types. Especially of the bulky variety. While Metagross would be able to take care of most of them, it won't be able to deal with Azumarills and Mawiles due to being neutral to Steel type attacks.

Third problem is that you also don't have much in the way for dealing with Greninja. Like at all. Remember that steel-type Pokemon are no longer resisted to Dark-type moves, and Greninja is an extremely versatiles Pokemon. Your Blaziken and Tyranitar will be dealt heavy damage with Scald (even worse they can get burned.), your Metagross and Latias will be Dark Pulsed, and your Salamence can be icebeamed. Gyrados is the only thing that could withstand around 2-3 hits from it, but there is nothing stopping it from simply U-turning into a Pokemon that can take care of it while wrecking your team in the process.

I'm sure there are more issues with this team that I can't exactly think of right now.

My first suggestion is to balance it out stat wise. Right now, unless your Tyranitar is of the defensive type, you got all out attack and no bulk in sight. That might work with your amateur friends, but on wifi it's a recipe for disaster. I suggest choosing two offensive Pokemon on your team to take out and replace them with some nice bulky pokemon in defense and sp.defense respectively.

My personal choice would be Venasaur (providing it will be the only mega pokemon on your team.), Cressilia, Florgess, Slowking, Rotom Wash, Mandibuzz, Quagsire, etc. If you want to counter a good chunk of Greninja than you can never go wrong with Mega Venasaur. Thick Fat as a mega ability protects it from Ice beam and Hidden Power fire shenanigans. It's only major weakness would be Talon Flame and it's brave birding nonsense, (which with the right pokemon you can take hits from it and let the dang thing die on it's own.) Alternatively you can also try and get yourself a Milotic with Mirror Coat (I personally have a spare feebas and I go on break this coming week so if you want one we can exchange FC's and set up a trade date.) I personally love this set for Milotic because it can already take some major Sp.Def hits on the super effective side and give it right back to it's opponents with Mirror Coat (and it's often a OHKO).

That's all I can think of right now. If you think I'm missing something please let me know.
 

Scarim Coral

Jumped the ship
Legacy
Oct 29, 2010
18,157
2
3
Country
UK
When it come to balancing your teams when it come to types, using this is a must unless you can work out the weakness and effectives in your head-

http://www.marriland.com/tools/team-builder
 

Raggedstar

New member
Jul 5, 2011
753
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The following is a post from someone who is a rookie competitive battler and breeder, so take what I say with a grain of salt.

As others have mentioned, the following information will help a lot to determine good synergy and quality of a team.
-Natures
-Items (especially if you're using a mega, as your entire team can do)
-EV spread
-Moveset
-Abilities

Now then, a few things to toss in:

-Stealth rocks are pretty frequent in competitive battles. Your Gyarados (especially if not mega) and Salamence will not appreciate the 1/4 health loss upon entry. If you have multiple Pokemon that will get hit hard by rocks (especially if someone is x4 weak to rock, like Talonflame or Volcarona) it's useful to have a rapid spinner or defogger to help clear the field for safe entry. Latios can technically fill this role, but defog is impossible to teach in gen 6 without genning (as it's a gen 4 exclusive HM) and very few Pokemon can learn it through levels or breeding. Useful defoggers include Mandibuzz (perhaps the gold standard non-legendary defogger, as she's pretty bulky too) and Crobat. Rapid spinners are more plentiful, and useful ones include Blastoise, Excadrill, Starmie, and Donphan.

-If you're going by Smogon rules, mind your tiers. A speed-boost Blaziken is considered uber (as in competes with powerful legendaries like Mewtwo, Xerneas, and Zekrom). They're not impossible to defeat, but just a pointer if you decide to go that route. I face a lot of kids that challenge me with teams stuffed with legendaries (I beat a Zekrom with a Venusaur. I was extremely lucky). Sometimes I win, sometimes I don't.

-Weather has been nerfed so it's not as much of an issue, but your Tyranitar will be starting a sandstorm upon each entry (pending you're using a sandstream one). It's not a huge amount of damage (and your Metagross won't care), but something to keep in mind. It may sound like a sin, but you can double up certain types as long as you have good synergy. For example, teams built around rain may have multiple water types to take advantage of abilities like swift swim, rain dish, or hydration. If you want, you can try to bring in a Pokemon that benefits from sandstorms, like Garchomp.

-While not a terrible thing, your team is stuffed with generic Pokemon that your opponents may automatically predict and prepare for. Metagross especially is pretty predictable.

-The team has a fairly large ice weakness. Salamence gets hit x4 and Tyranitar and Latios both get x2 (Gyarados won't appreciate it either, but a mega might shrug it off). Ice attacks are pretty common (to counter dragons, of which you have two) and while Blaziken and Metagross may be your only counters, it's something to remember. It's also the most common hidden power (extremely common in Manetrics with people who either gen or actually understand how to breed for hidden powers. It's a bit of a clusterfuck 0-0).

-Fairies are pretty common these days, and like ice, your team won't appreciate the Klefkis and Sylveons out there. Salamence and Latios will both get wrecked and they can't use their best STABs like draco meteor or dragon claw. Tyranitar and Blaziken are also both weak to fairies (EDIT: Actually, Blaziken get's hit neutral, but you won't be able to use fighting type attacks effectively on fairies). Metagross is a decent counter to most fairies (some Azumarills might laugh off a bullet punch or hammer arm), but if you don't have him to fall back on, it may be tough. Don't underestimate the nerfing of dragons. Moonblasts hurt.

-As others have mentioned, it's good to have a wall. Your team is super offensive, and while it can work, it doesn't hurt to consider some that may not hit for OHKOs every day but provide more supportive roles. Ones that can reliably switch in and land a status, set up screens, or tank some hits. I hear the metagame these days is pretty bulky and stall-heavy.

-Also mentioned by others, your team is super physical if you're using standard movesets. Some of these Pokemon can handle multiple or non-conventional roles (like special Tyranitars and mixed Salamences). Part of the reason why listing movesets is important. Physical walls like Slowbro are perhaps more common than special walls.

Pokemon is a pretty deep metagame. Pros can predict movesets and attacks several turns before they actually happen, and everything can change. As kids we play all-out offensive by just matching types, and boy is it a huge wake-up call to see that's not how it works when facing actual people. Lot's of things to consider, and I'm being driven mad by trying to make my first competitive teams, so stick it out :3
 

CrazyCapnMorgan

Is not insane, just crazy >:)
Jan 5, 2011
2,742
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Caramel Frappe said:
Aside from that...image...Gardevoir really IS a great pokemon. Mine had Energy Ball, Thunderbolt, Psychic and Dazzling Gleam. Another one I liked was Volcarona; however, as it struggles against rock-types, I had it learn Giga Drain. You'd be surprised how useful stuff like that can be!

My advice is to make sure you cover your weaknesses as much as possible and to plan out battles in advance. The reason Empoleon is my favorite pokemon is because its unique typing, Water and Steel, makes him resistant to over half of the type attacks while only having 3 type weaknesses. Those weaknesses - Fighting, Ground and Electric - can all be covered by Empoleon's moveset pool. Earthquake for Electric types, Drill Peck or Aerial Ace for Fighting types, and [insert Water or Ice type move here] for Ground types. Empoleon can also learn all HMs except Fly (damn penguins >_<) and is immune to Poison effects. Finally, Empoleon's stats are pretty well rounded, though their Speed is somewhat lackluster.

Planning and preparation are keys to success, make sure to NOT overlook them.
 

gigastar

Insert one-liner here.
Sep 13, 2010
4,419
0
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Most of the best teams usually run a mon dedicated to self buffing and then using Baton Pass to transfer those buffs to the designated sweeper.

This is usually a Smeargle, since they can learn almost anything.