Well, I kinda suck at teambuilding ;-;. So I often try to do 2 breakers/1 sweeper/ 1 scarf / 1 lead / 1 utility,while following orch's threat list but, most of my teams need a lot of work. And don't get me stared on outside-the-box movesets. I rarely even pull THAT off!
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Your Teambuilding Philosophy
- Thread starter MMII
- Start date
Sorry for both double posting and necroing, but, well, I have 2 questions:
1. How do you "exercise" your team building capabilities? I realize starting from scratch, but asides from that.
2. How would you get past "teambuilder's block" (when you just can't think of a poke for a slot, or you feel like you're hit a dead end)?
1. How do you "exercise" your team building capabilities? I realize starting from scratch, but asides from that.
2. How would you get past "teambuilder's block" (when you just can't think of a poke for a slot, or you feel like you're hit a dead end)?
Disaster Area
formerly Piexplode
for 2. I'll tell you what I do and then you'll understand why I accidentally end up with weird-ass niche mons..
I work out what roles my poke needs to do and what's most important for it, e.g. checking xerneas, checking yveltal, coming in on specsogre's ice beams, heal bell, perish song, etc. etc. and then I find a mon that fills the largest amount of the most important ones.
I work out what roles my poke needs to do and what's most important for it, e.g. checking xerneas, checking yveltal, coming in on specsogre's ice beams, heal bell, perish song, etc. etc. and then I find a mon that fills the largest amount of the most important ones.
Um I kinda feel like these two questions can be merged into one. I don't exercise my teambuilding, I just build on a need to basis and if I'm ever stuck, I ask somebody else. Getting a glimpse of another's viewpoint and hearing their opinion is probably the best thing for improving in your teambuilding and to get around any blocks/dead-ends you may have. Although, sometimes a dead-end just means the full team needs to be restructured fr that the original concept isn't actually viable/possible. Don't waste too much time on one team, if you are struggling to put it together odds are it'll struggle when you play with it. Drop it and move onto a new one.
If you ever get stuck on teambuilding, a good idea would be to look at a threat list and see if there are any major threats your team has not yet accounted for. If you still have a few slots open in your team, chances are, you are missing a check/counter to some major threats.
I think a better question would be how you can make your teambuilding more concise so that you can check all major threats in the metagame with as few Pokemon as possible, thus opening up spots in your team for heavy artilleries if a balanced team is a way you would like to go.
Of course, there are also Pokemon such as Ho-oh that excels both offensively and defensively which can further help you maintain offensive pressure while checking off items in the threat list. If you find it hard to fit a check to a particular threat, you might find it helpful to explore the different forms Arceus has to offer. Arceus forms can find a place in a majority of teams to patch up certain weaknesses.
I hope this helps.
Okay, I've been meaning to post here for a while but I've been lazy and not had a good team to share and use for demonstration.
Basically, my teambuilding philosophy is to use whatever works. I know that sounds hella obvious but it implies that there aren't any limitations when there comes to teambuilding as long as it does what it's meant to do. This means that I like to avoid using any pre-building assumptions, checklists, or formulas (with the exception of having SR) as well as using mons that might appear to be gimmics.
Usually, my teambuilding process starts off with an initial idea. For example, I hate playing against hazards Deoxys-A because it often forces game changing 50/50s very early on. One strong measure against that is Mega Kangaskhan thanks Pbond Fake Out. Downside to Fake Out Mega Kangkhan, though, is that it struggles in getting past bulky Arceus formes and stallier teams in general. Fortunately, those are exactly the targets CM Taunt Gothitelle shines against. So MKanga + Goth leaves me with a solid core to start building around.
Afterwords, I start looking at the weaknesses and advantages of the core to construct a skeleton. The biggest downside to my core is that neither mon really has a useful defensive typing meaning I can't rely on them to help me switch around. The bright side is that both are very difficult to switch out (cause Kanga can make a lot of mean trades and Goth has Shadow Tag so it'll have already done it's job) meaning that there aren't any particular mons I need to have stronger switch-ins for. A pretty general and standard defensive core like Kyogre check + ground + fairy + steel can work pretty well. I also want a Choice Scarf user as my defensive core isn't particularly sturdy and won't stand up to the onslaughts of the likes of Mewtwo without one. Quick brainstorming give me, more or less, two potential builds: Palkia, Landorus-T, Fairy Arceus, and Espeed Choice Scarf Genesect or Water Arceus, Landorus-T, Klefki, Choice Scarf Zekrom. The later is more effective as having a Spikes user puts more pressure on support Arceus and gives me better switching room versus fairy types. There is somewhat of an Kyogre weakness but I can compensate by tweaking sets and opting for things like Zekrom as my Choice Scarf user.
The last step I have when I teambuild is polishing spreads and sets. Gothitelle's 4th slot was more or less open but the blatant weakness to Spikes setters like Ferrothorn means that Taunt is the best option to use for it with speed creep to outrun Skarmory. I also wanted to be able to defeat CM Arceus formes as they can equally bother Mega Kangaskhan so a max SpDef spread with Psyshock was best. Also, since Gothitelle can't rap Ghost Arceus, using Curnch instead of Earthquake on Mega Kangaskhan helps it in punish it when it comes in. Choice Specs Kyogre can be an issue since Water Arceus isn't much of a switch-in so using Jolly Eplate Landorus instead of Adamant can help the team deny Specs Kyogre any free turns. I can also opt to use U-Turn over Toxic as Gothitelle already destroys support Arceus formes for me and this gives me more opportunities to bring Kangaskhan in. Water Arceus needs to be able to check opposing Kangaskhan and Ekiller Arceus so using Will-O-Wisp is a must have. Lastly, since I'm using Water Arceus to help check Kyogre I can either use Grass Knot or Calm Mind. I opted for Calm Mind since it is more effective in general and handles Kyogre just as well as Grass Knot as Calm Mind does. (Specs Kyogre can just click Spout twice to KO if I switch in on it)
All that remains is to test and tweak. I don't remember how much this team changed from playtesting but it wasn't a whole lot. Sometimes your theorymon is good enough that a team comes out finished from the teambuilding session but cases like that are rare. (at least for me) It's very easy to overlook a threat or overestimate how well your team handles a specific threat so it's always good to playtest what you build.
For those who want to test the team or use it to get into the metagame:
The nicknames are friends of mine from a specific IRC channel. Skylight is a Kangaskahn cause she's always talking about kids or getting pregnant. Princes Bri (Dice) is a Gothitelle cause he pretend to be a girl when he first joined Smogon and Shadow Tag Gothitelle used to only be male in BW2. Sweep is a Landorus-T because I asked him which mon he liked the best out of the 4 nicknames I hadn't decided on yet. Jrp is Klefki cause he brought the popularity of "skill" team to Ubers. (which eventually trickled to Merk beating Stone Cold with it in OST and thus the current suspect discussion for it :o) Enguarde is Arceus because he's a god. Furai is a Zekrom because I didn't want to miss Bolt Strike.
Basically, my teambuilding philosophy is to use whatever works. I know that sounds hella obvious but it implies that there aren't any limitations when there comes to teambuilding as long as it does what it's meant to do. This means that I like to avoid using any pre-building assumptions, checklists, or formulas (with the exception of having SR) as well as using mons that might appear to be gimmics.
Usually, my teambuilding process starts off with an initial idea. For example, I hate playing against hazards Deoxys-A because it often forces game changing 50/50s very early on. One strong measure against that is Mega Kangaskhan thanks Pbond Fake Out. Downside to Fake Out Mega Kangkhan, though, is that it struggles in getting past bulky Arceus formes and stallier teams in general. Fortunately, those are exactly the targets CM Taunt Gothitelle shines against. So MKanga + Goth leaves me with a solid core to start building around.
Afterwords, I start looking at the weaknesses and advantages of the core to construct a skeleton. The biggest downside to my core is that neither mon really has a useful defensive typing meaning I can't rely on them to help me switch around. The bright side is that both are very difficult to switch out (cause Kanga can make a lot of mean trades and Goth has Shadow Tag so it'll have already done it's job) meaning that there aren't any particular mons I need to have stronger switch-ins for. A pretty general and standard defensive core like Kyogre check + ground + fairy + steel can work pretty well. I also want a Choice Scarf user as my defensive core isn't particularly sturdy and won't stand up to the onslaughts of the likes of Mewtwo without one. Quick brainstorming give me, more or less, two potential builds: Palkia, Landorus-T, Fairy Arceus, and Espeed Choice Scarf Genesect or Water Arceus, Landorus-T, Klefki, Choice Scarf Zekrom. The later is more effective as having a Spikes user puts more pressure on support Arceus and gives me better switching room versus fairy types. There is somewhat of an Kyogre weakness but I can compensate by tweaking sets and opting for things like Zekrom as my Choice Scarf user.
The last step I have when I teambuild is polishing spreads and sets. Gothitelle's 4th slot was more or less open but the blatant weakness to Spikes setters like Ferrothorn means that Taunt is the best option to use for it with speed creep to outrun Skarmory. I also wanted to be able to defeat CM Arceus formes as they can equally bother Mega Kangaskhan so a max SpDef spread with Psyshock was best. Also, since Gothitelle can't rap Ghost Arceus, using Curnch instead of Earthquake on Mega Kangaskhan helps it in punish it when it comes in. Choice Specs Kyogre can be an issue since Water Arceus isn't much of a switch-in so using Jolly Eplate Landorus instead of Adamant can help the team deny Specs Kyogre any free turns. I can also opt to use U-Turn over Toxic as Gothitelle already destroys support Arceus formes for me and this gives me more opportunities to bring Kangaskhan in. Water Arceus needs to be able to check opposing Kangaskhan and Ekiller Arceus so using Will-O-Wisp is a must have. Lastly, since I'm using Water Arceus to help check Kyogre I can either use Grass Knot or Calm Mind. I opted for Calm Mind since it is more effective in general and handles Kyogre just as well as Grass Knot as Calm Mind does. (Specs Kyogre can just click Spout twice to KO if I switch in on it)
All that remains is to test and tweak. I don't remember how much this team changed from playtesting but it wasn't a whole lot. Sometimes your theorymon is good enough that a team comes out finished from the teambuilding session but cases like that are rare. (at least for me) It's very easy to overlook a threat or overestimate how well your team handles a specific threat so it's always good to playtest what you build.
For those who want to test the team or use it to get into the metagame:
Skylight (Kangaskhan) (F) @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Early Bird
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 Def
Jolly Nature
- Frustration
- Crunch
- Fake Out
- Sucker Punch
Princess Bri (Gothitelle) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Shadow Tag
EVs: 248 HP / 216 SDef / 44 Spd
Calm Nature
- Psyshock
- Taunt
- Rest
- Calm Mind
Sweep (Landorus-Therian) (M) @ Earth Plate
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 Def
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock
- U-turn
Jrp (Klefki) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SDef / 8 Def
Careful Nature
- Play Rough
- Toxic
- Spikes
- Thunder Wave
Enguarde (Arceus-Water) @ Splash Plate
Ability: Multitype
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 112 Spd / 148 Def
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Judgment
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover
- Calm Mind
Furai (Zekrom) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 SAtk
Lonely Nature
- Bolt Strike
- Outrage
- Volt Switch
- Draco Meteor
Ability: Early Bird
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 Def
Jolly Nature
- Frustration
- Crunch
- Fake Out
- Sucker Punch
Princess Bri (Gothitelle) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Shadow Tag
EVs: 248 HP / 216 SDef / 44 Spd
Calm Nature
- Psyshock
- Taunt
- Rest
- Calm Mind
Sweep (Landorus-Therian) (M) @ Earth Plate
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 Def
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock
- U-turn
Jrp (Klefki) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SDef / 8 Def
Careful Nature
- Play Rough
- Toxic
- Spikes
- Thunder Wave
Enguarde (Arceus-Water) @ Splash Plate
Ability: Multitype
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 112 Spd / 148 Def
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Judgment
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover
- Calm Mind
Furai (Zekrom) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 SAtk
Lonely Nature
- Bolt Strike
- Outrage
- Volt Switch
- Draco Meteor
The nicknames are friends of mine from a specific IRC channel. Skylight is a Kangaskahn cause she's always talking about kids or getting pregnant. Princes Bri (Dice) is a Gothitelle cause he pretend to be a girl when he first joined Smogon and Shadow Tag Gothitelle used to only be male in BW2. Sweep is a Landorus-T because I asked him which mon he liked the best out of the 4 nicknames I hadn't decided on yet. Jrp is Klefki cause he brought the popularity of "skill" team to Ubers. (which eventually trickled to Merk beating Stone Cold with it in OST and thus the current suspect discussion for it :o) Enguarde is Arceus because he's a god. Furai is a Zekrom because I didn't want to miss Bolt Strike.
My teambuilding style in Ubers is kind of a hybrid of using what I like and stuff that is actually good. Basically, I just pick one random thing that makes me say "hey, this would be 56% baller to make a team out of", and base the team to help that one thing do its job. These have included, but are not limited to: Sunny Day Reshiram, SubDisable Ygod, and Bulk Up Dialga. Of course my actual teambuilding skills need some brushing up, and by that I mean the primary teambuilding steps for me are:
1) Make team
2) Test for a couple of days on the ladder
3) Root out primary flaws
4) Either set up RMT or talk about it in Ubers chatroom lobby (Showdown)
5) Get yelled at by Haruno, Hack, or both that my team literally has even more flaws than b4
6) Have orch actually make team
7) Feel grateful and fired up, and think you have cleaned up your previous mistakes
8) Repeat steps 1-7 indefinitely
However, the types of teams that are produced are more along the lines are either balanced or BO, but I think I can get out of this rut (eventually)
1) Make team
2) Test for a couple of days on the ladder
3) Root out primary flaws
4) Either set up RMT or talk about it in Ubers chatroom lobby (Showdown)
5) Get yelled at by Haruno, Hack, or both that my team literally has even more flaws than b4
6) Have orch actually make team
7) Feel grateful and fired up, and think you have cleaned up your previous mistakes
8) Repeat steps 1-7 indefinitely
However, the types of teams that are produced are more along the lines are either balanced or BO, but I think I can get out of this rut (eventually)
I make sure all my teams can handle the following mons in this order (I generally make balanced teams):
Ho-Oh/Kyogre/Xerneas
Mewtwo
EKiller/Blaziken
CM Arceus (Ghost,Electric,Water,etc.)/Palkia
Yveltal/Ground Types/Zekrom/Assorted Defensive mons
chances are if you can check all of those you're good to go in my experience, and make sure you aren't mega gengar weak. I'll post more later, but I usually try to start with a concept and build from there.
Ho-Oh/Kyogre/Xerneas
Mewtwo
EKiller/Blaziken
CM Arceus (Ghost,Electric,Water,etc.)/Palkia
Yveltal/Ground Types/Zekrom/Assorted Defensive mons
chances are if you can check all of those you're good to go in my experience, and make sure you aren't mega gengar weak. I'll post more later, but I usually try to start with a concept and build from there.
MoxieInfinite
Banned deucer.
>steal from donkey
>win
Disaster Area
formerly Piexplode
If you could steal teams from anyone I'd much rather have teams from Hack.. lol either way I don't generally use other people's teams, I guess I feel making your own build allows you to understand how it functions properly.
I've found teambuilding harder to do this Gen, so what I've attempted to do is give myself a challenge, then build a team around it. So like using an underrated mon. Or using an unvonventional set. This way, while my team still functions like every other team well, it also has a touch of uniqueness to it. For example, using SubSplit Mega Gengar over Dbond + Taunt. Different form the norm and allows me to say I used something different.
When I teambuild, unless it's around a specific challenge, I try to do it around a certain sweeper. I started with CM EleCeus most recently, and I had ScarfOgre and Banded Ho-Oh to cover its offensive weak spots. My last three team spots usually go to checking/countering common threats. A Xerneas check is mandatory on most Uber teams these days, so I included Klefki. A SR setter and Ekiller check was found in Landorus-Therian, and a SDef Xerneas was my check to Scarf Palkia as well as keeping my team status-free.
I generally like to have a Xerneas check, and secondary Xerneas check (LOL) and then have something check Extremekiller Arceus - because God only knows how many people run those two Pokes. Also, I typically run a Chansey/Blissey - it can wall Xerneas up and down all day even if it has Focus Blast Miss, and Heal Bell is really handy.
I also like to be a bit random. Not like run a defensive Mega Mewtwo set random, but use things that my opponent wouldn't really expect. For example, Arceus-Ground. It's always neat to have an Electric immunity, and more oft than not you can predict the Choice-locked Electric move, switch in Arceus Ground and set up an SD and potentially sweep.
I also like to be a bit random. Not like run a defensive Mega Mewtwo set random, but use things that my opponent wouldn't really expect. For example, Arceus-Ground. It's always neat to have an Electric immunity, and more oft than not you can predict the Choice-locked Electric move, switch in Arceus Ground and set up an SD and potentially sweep.
So, my teambuilding philosophy. While I may not be known as a particularly good or well-known player, I do like building teams and have made some good ones (I think). To be perfectly honest here, you can completely disregard my word, as if you want a "good" player's philosophy this might not be it, but I felt like posting this anyways. I mean, part of it is that analyzing my own philosophy and getting it out on paper is hopefully going to help me build teams a bit better, but that's besides the point.
I keep a lot of things in mind while I'm teambuilding. I generally start with one pokemon, set or core, and go from there. This tends to be the source of creativity for a team; however, that is not to be said to imply that the supporting pokemon cannot have creativity. Of course, the creativity can only go so far, and a general rule of thumb is that the pokemon, the centerpiece if you will, cannot be blatantly outclassed by anything if you're trying to be too creative. Some niche mons are okay, you just have to really identify and abuse its niche as much as possible. Sometimes, this pokemon will determine the general direction of the team and its archetype, but I feel like it is helpful to remain open minded. For example, with a pokemon like Sticky Web Shuckle throws you into HO, but some pokemon can go in multiple directions (such as how Deo-A tends to be used in HO, but some great balance teams have been made with it, like Fireburn's one that he RMT'd). Anyways, enough about the centerpiece mon. From there, there are a couple of requirements I feel like most teams should get down to be successful. Note that not all of them are necessary for a solid build, it's only a general checklist of things that you should try fit if possible.
1. Checks and Counters. Most teams need solid answers to these pokemon:
Xerneas
Kyogre
Ekiller
Ho-Oh
Zekrom
Blaziken
Mewtwo
Yveltal
Palkia
Kangaskhan
CM Arceus Formes
They are in a general order of importance, but I'm sure there is some variance. Let me know if something desperately needs to be changed but generally all of them should be checked so it doesn't really matter. In my experience, this part is most important for stall and balance- HO can get away ignoring some of these, especially the slower ones, while the faster ones (such as Scarf Kyogre and Zekrom), or ones with priority take priority.
2. Hazard Control. A team should be able to both get up and get down hazards. This means that you should have a pokemon with at least rocks (spikes is nice but it isn't as well distributed so it's often hard to fit), as well as a defog user or spinner. The latter is generally ignored or at least less important on HO though, so that is something to note. You will also want sufficient offensive pressure to keep up rocks, but this can be hard, especially for stall.
3. Cleric. Stall absolutely needs a cleric, while balance needs either a cleric or a status absorber. This can be hard to fit though, especially since its distribution is pretty much limited to fairies and Blissey, which is quite limiting when it comes to teambuilding. HO teams can get away without one usually.
4. Stallbreaker. Most teams should have a way to break down stall quickly, so as not to be overwhelmed by toxic spam. This could be both smashing things obscenely hard (like SpecsOgre), using taunt to shut down/force switches on defensive or support mons (like Yveltal), or isolating core members to break apart a team (like Gengar or even Gothitelle). I'm going to throw it out there that stallbreakers tend to add little defensive synergy to teams, so this is something to note, but it is generally pretty important to have one.
5. Pursuit Trapper. Gengar is a threat that you might notice is not in the above list. That's because its way of checking is not really by having a pokemon that can wall Gengar, but by stopping it from doing its trapping shenanigans altogether. Pursuit trappers are most necessary on stall, but any team with more than one Gengar weak mon should definitely consider using a pursuit trapper. The necessity of a pursuit user is really based on a teams weakness to Gengar (in other words, if everything beats Gengar 1v1, there is pretty much no point to running a pursuit trapper).
6. Win Condition. I guarantee that if you can't win, you will always lose (okay fine ties but screw that). This is usually a setup mon or a late game cleaner, and it often allows for a general game plan for a team, which is usually play a game until you eliminate your win conditions checks, and then get it in to end the game. It is perfectly viable to run more than one win condition. I find it generally debatable whether this is necessary on stall- it depends on the build and to what degree of stall it plays at.
7. Anti leads. Yeah, this is the least likely goal but it is always nice to be able to shut down that suicide lead. If this isn't there, it's not. There's no reason to go out of your way to get this.
8. Synergy. This is definitely the most open-ended element of a team, but it is very important. This encompasses both type synergy and functionality synergy. For type synergy, you want resists to most types (okay, you really want all of them but sometimes you don't have it). I tend to try to keep weaknesses within one of the resists, meaning that I try not to have, say 3 weaknesses to a type and only 1 resist. That being said, I'm sure there are scenarios where it works to have that, I just prefer not to. As for functionality, this basically means that you can't run stuff like Blaziken and Deo-A on stall to their full potential (okay, correct me if I'm wrong). Similarly, running SDef RestTalk Palkia is ineffective on HO.
So those are the elements that are needed. There are a few things I want to address other than this though, being the actually building process itself and team archetypes.
As I may have alluded to in some of the elements, archetypes tend to have different needs and different emphases on certain needs. I feel like the general concept is that the more offensive a team is, the more stuff it can get away with not having. It makes sense- a team that puts a ton of pressure on the opponent so that their offensive mons will never get a chance to get in safely isn't going to need to deal with the said threat, while stall teams that have less offensive presence give more free turns and thus force it to deal with more offensive threats.
As for the teambuilding process, it looks something like this. Start with the centerpiece I talked about earlier, build cores, and add support. After this is done, check the checklist. Chances are, you overlooked something, and then look for ways to fix that thing you overlooked. Oftentimes, it feels impossible to fix stuff, and you will struggle to have that check to that one mon, while keeping a stallbreaker, or while not being to electric weak or something. This happens a ton and instead of trying to rearrange the same mons, recognize that you are trying to put a square peg in a round hole. You may need to do something interesting or change a set to accommodate these things. I recall that once, I was having trouble fitting a cleric on one of my balance teams along with a win condition, while retaining all of the other stuff. I spent a while trying to do stuff, but I eventually thought of running CM Refresh Waterceus, which fit perfectly. So, keep taking looks back at the team, going over it, patching up little things here and there, and you will eventually have a great team!
So, in conclusion- here is a checklist of stuff to have.
Checks to:
Xerneas
Kyogre
Ekiller
Ho-Oh
Zekrom
Blaziken
Mewtwo
Yveltal
Palkia
Kangaskhan
CM Arceus Formes
Also have:
Cleric
Stealth Rock
Anti Lead
Defog/Spin
Pursuit Trapper
Stallbreaker
Win Condition
Synergy
So, thanks for reading my long teambuilding philosophy and I hope this helped!
I keep a lot of things in mind while I'm teambuilding. I generally start with one pokemon, set or core, and go from there. This tends to be the source of creativity for a team; however, that is not to be said to imply that the supporting pokemon cannot have creativity. Of course, the creativity can only go so far, and a general rule of thumb is that the pokemon, the centerpiece if you will, cannot be blatantly outclassed by anything if you're trying to be too creative. Some niche mons are okay, you just have to really identify and abuse its niche as much as possible. Sometimes, this pokemon will determine the general direction of the team and its archetype, but I feel like it is helpful to remain open minded. For example, with a pokemon like Sticky Web Shuckle throws you into HO, but some pokemon can go in multiple directions (such as how Deo-A tends to be used in HO, but some great balance teams have been made with it, like Fireburn's one that he RMT'd). Anyways, enough about the centerpiece mon. From there, there are a couple of requirements I feel like most teams should get down to be successful. Note that not all of them are necessary for a solid build, it's only a general checklist of things that you should try fit if possible.
1. Checks and Counters. Most teams need solid answers to these pokemon:
Xerneas
Kyogre
Ekiller
Ho-Oh
Zekrom
Blaziken
Mewtwo
Yveltal
Palkia
Kangaskhan
CM Arceus Formes
They are in a general order of importance, but I'm sure there is some variance. Let me know if something desperately needs to be changed but generally all of them should be checked so it doesn't really matter. In my experience, this part is most important for stall and balance- HO can get away ignoring some of these, especially the slower ones, while the faster ones (such as Scarf Kyogre and Zekrom), or ones with priority take priority.
2. Hazard Control. A team should be able to both get up and get down hazards. This means that you should have a pokemon with at least rocks (spikes is nice but it isn't as well distributed so it's often hard to fit), as well as a defog user or spinner. The latter is generally ignored or at least less important on HO though, so that is something to note. You will also want sufficient offensive pressure to keep up rocks, but this can be hard, especially for stall.
3. Cleric. Stall absolutely needs a cleric, while balance needs either a cleric or a status absorber. This can be hard to fit though, especially since its distribution is pretty much limited to fairies and Blissey, which is quite limiting when it comes to teambuilding. HO teams can get away without one usually.
4. Stallbreaker. Most teams should have a way to break down stall quickly, so as not to be overwhelmed by toxic spam. This could be both smashing things obscenely hard (like SpecsOgre), using taunt to shut down/force switches on defensive or support mons (like Yveltal), or isolating core members to break apart a team (like Gengar or even Gothitelle). I'm going to throw it out there that stallbreakers tend to add little defensive synergy to teams, so this is something to note, but it is generally pretty important to have one.
5. Pursuit Trapper. Gengar is a threat that you might notice is not in the above list. That's because its way of checking is not really by having a pokemon that can wall Gengar, but by stopping it from doing its trapping shenanigans altogether. Pursuit trappers are most necessary on stall, but any team with more than one Gengar weak mon should definitely consider using a pursuit trapper. The necessity of a pursuit user is really based on a teams weakness to Gengar (in other words, if everything beats Gengar 1v1, there is pretty much no point to running a pursuit trapper).
6. Win Condition. I guarantee that if you can't win, you will always lose (okay fine ties but screw that). This is usually a setup mon or a late game cleaner, and it often allows for a general game plan for a team, which is usually play a game until you eliminate your win conditions checks, and then get it in to end the game. It is perfectly viable to run more than one win condition. I find it generally debatable whether this is necessary on stall- it depends on the build and to what degree of stall it plays at.
7. Anti leads. Yeah, this is the least likely goal but it is always nice to be able to shut down that suicide lead. If this isn't there, it's not. There's no reason to go out of your way to get this.
8. Synergy. This is definitely the most open-ended element of a team, but it is very important. This encompasses both type synergy and functionality synergy. For type synergy, you want resists to most types (okay, you really want all of them but sometimes you don't have it). I tend to try to keep weaknesses within one of the resists, meaning that I try not to have, say 3 weaknesses to a type and only 1 resist. That being said, I'm sure there are scenarios where it works to have that, I just prefer not to. As for functionality, this basically means that you can't run stuff like Blaziken and Deo-A on stall to their full potential (okay, correct me if I'm wrong). Similarly, running SDef RestTalk Palkia is ineffective on HO.
So those are the elements that are needed. There are a few things I want to address other than this though, being the actually building process itself and team archetypes.
As I may have alluded to in some of the elements, archetypes tend to have different needs and different emphases on certain needs. I feel like the general concept is that the more offensive a team is, the more stuff it can get away with not having. It makes sense- a team that puts a ton of pressure on the opponent so that their offensive mons will never get a chance to get in safely isn't going to need to deal with the said threat, while stall teams that have less offensive presence give more free turns and thus force it to deal with more offensive threats.
As for the teambuilding process, it looks something like this. Start with the centerpiece I talked about earlier, build cores, and add support. After this is done, check the checklist. Chances are, you overlooked something, and then look for ways to fix that thing you overlooked. Oftentimes, it feels impossible to fix stuff, and you will struggle to have that check to that one mon, while keeping a stallbreaker, or while not being to electric weak or something. This happens a ton and instead of trying to rearrange the same mons, recognize that you are trying to put a square peg in a round hole. You may need to do something interesting or change a set to accommodate these things. I recall that once, I was having trouble fitting a cleric on one of my balance teams along with a win condition, while retaining all of the other stuff. I spent a while trying to do stuff, but I eventually thought of running CM Refresh Waterceus, which fit perfectly. So, keep taking looks back at the team, going over it, patching up little things here and there, and you will eventually have a great team!
So, in conclusion- here is a checklist of stuff to have.
Checks to:
Xerneas
Kyogre
Ekiller
Ho-Oh
Zekrom
Blaziken
Mewtwo
Yveltal
Palkia
Kangaskhan
CM Arceus Formes
Also have:
Cleric
Stealth Rock
Anti Lead
Defog/Spin
Pursuit Trapper
Stallbreaker
Win Condition
Synergy
So, thanks for reading my long teambuilding philosophy and I hope this helped!
Disaster Area
formerly Piexplode
You don't always need a cleric on stall; gliscor+palkia for example can absorb virtually any status anyway for example.
1. Add a favorite legendary Pokemon to your team (e.g. Ho-oh)
2. Add a mega evolution to your team (e.g. Mega Kangaskhan)
3. Add a powerhouse to your team (e.g. Deoxys A)
4. Add a bulky supporter to your team (e.g. Arceus ??? Form)
5. Add a hax machine to your team (e.g. Swagkey)
6. Add a counter or check to the Pokemon which otherwise kicks your team's ass (e.g. Aegislash to handle Xerneas and maybe Espeed Killer)
2. Add a mega evolution to your team (e.g. Mega Kangaskhan)
3. Add a powerhouse to your team (e.g. Deoxys A)
4. Add a bulky supporter to your team (e.g. Arceus ??? Form)
5. Add a hax machine to your team (e.g. Swagkey)
6. Add a counter or check to the Pokemon which otherwise kicks your team's ass (e.g. Aegislash to handle Xerneas and maybe Espeed Killer)
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man this is exactly how steelskitty does it
My team building principal for all of Pokemon: Use the aspects of the Pokemon mechanics that are not present in MtG or YGO. This is a simple but profound maxim. Best if you understand those two other games.
I'm sorry?
1. Take something random. (Ariados, for example)
2. Analyze the Metagame.
3. Make a set that has the highest chance to be sucsessfull (Sucker Punch, Shadow Sneak, X-Scissors/Poison Jab, Sticky Web for Ariados)
4. Make a solid team around it.
5. Peak something around 1800 on the ladder of the said Metagame.
6. Demand a medal.
2. Analyze the Metagame.
3. Make a set that has the highest chance to be sucsessfull (Sucker Punch, Shadow Sneak, X-Scissors/Poison Jab, Sticky Web for Ariados)
4. Make a solid team around it.
5. Peak something around 1800 on the ladder of the said Metagame.
6. Demand a medal.