VGC Team Building

[FireHawk325]

Hey guys this is my first post so please take it easy on me it I mess anything up with the formating :)

This is the base for my team so far:

Tapu Koko @ Leftovers
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Dazzling Gleam
- Volt Switch
- Roost

Raichu-Alola @ Life Orb
Ability: Surge Surfer
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Nuzzle
- Electro Ball
- Psyshock
- Focus Blast

(should I add volt switch???)

I am trying to take advantage of Alolan Riachus 700 speed with electric terrain active but not sure what to add to my team from here. I could add a physical threat to help but I am in desperate need for support. Also where should I use my Z-move if at all? Thx.

 

[ElementOfSmash]

Ok. So a couple things to consider here, I think.

Firstly, super weak to ground this core is. Garchomp is definitely something you're going to run into, and I'd wager that you'll have a might of trouble against Krookodile. And I know it's easy to say "But Tapu is a fairy! I should be fine hitting a Garchomp!" But consider the following:

252 SpA Life Orb Tapu Koko Dazzling Gleam vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Garchomp: 120-143 (65.5 - 78.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Garchomp Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Tapu Koko in Electric Terrain: 146-174 (100.6 - 120%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252 SpA Raichu-Alola Focus Blast vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Garchomp: 63-75 (34.4 - 40.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 Atk Garchomp Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Raichu-Alola: 218-260 (161.4 - 192.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO

So you should be looking at something to resist Ground-types like that, and hopefully hit them super-effectively back. Or at least neutrally.
A quick aside on this, I would probably run Protect over Roost on Koko. He's not tanky enough for you to ever get much mileage out of it.

Secondly, speed control. Sure, you have this one specific combo. But what happens when the opponents Tapu comes out? You loose that boost. What about Trick Room, something we're seeing quite a bit of at the moment? You need a way to deal with that. Cover your speed tiers. You can't just have a fast team. You need a balanced team. Maybe you want Tailwind. Or Electro Web. You def want a TR mode.

Lastly, you need to deal with threats. How do you do against the other Tapus? Torkoal? Nihilego? Celesteela? etc, etc. This partially goes hand-in-hand with the first point, shoring up your weaknesses, but it also goes beyond that.
I'm not an amazing player or anything, so I'm reluctant to give out specific choices or more pointed advice. But these are ways of thinking of VGC teambuilding that have helped me tremendously.
Go watch some VGC players, like Cybertron or Wolfe.
Do some calcs.
And PLAY. Playtest, playtest, playtest. If I don't wind up at the drawing board at the end of everyday, I should either have won everything without problem, or I'm not paying enough attention to my team.

HTH!

 

[blarajan]

Temporarily locking until you make an attempt at this thread

http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/mandatory-team-building-homework-assignment.3589392/