The key points

What are the most important things to keep in mind while building a team? After getting comments on my team, I see that I need to make alot of adjustments, and I was considering starting over from scratch. But to make sure that my effort is not put forth in vein, I'd like some advise on what to always keep in mind while making a team.
 
Remake this topic a few months after DP has been out... RMTs then will be very different than RMTs now...

At least I think so.
 
Remake this topic a few months after DP has been out... RMTs then will be very different than RMTs now...

At least I think so.

I still want to work on making a team to start off with for DP right now. I'm the type of person who likes to be ready for things early.
 
Honestly, it's really hard to say. I generally start with a Pokemon that I want to build around, then consider the bigger threats of the metagame and counter them accordingly as needed. ;[
 
I went with Sweeper(phys)/Sweeper(spec)/Sweeper(??)/Tank/Tank/Support, that being Rampard/PoryZ/Alakazam/Dusknoir/Crescelia/Swampert.

But that's just me.
 
Well, look at what people yell (insert name)-Weak about.

Toy and latinoheat cover it. Also watch out for AGZam it can 2HKO Laxen and Regice.
 
Focus on your method of attack first. Consider whatever pokemon or gimmicks you want to indulge in, favorites and such. After this, sift through the standards to see who complements you the most. A team of gimmicks will be fun to play and surprising but usually not as effective as the "tried and true."


But do take that with a grain of salt, we have no tried and true yet (except for a few posts by Jibaku and Seph).
 
Electrode is way too much of a liability for your team after Gyarados (and I kinda doubt that he could kill Gyarados before Gyarados could DD and kill it with EQ or Waterfall).

A good starter right now is something to stop ASGar (fast sleep), SRPert/Hippo (early rocks), or Azelf (some schemer/SDer).
 
I'd go with being able to counter the 10 biggest (in your judgment) threats while simultaneously building a team around a particular thought in mind. This doesn't mean that you should ignore all other threats or completely devote yourself entirely to some contrived strategy. The idea is to find an ideal middle-ground, and as Surgo has said, to misquote him, the D/P team-building process will be more about choosing a particular strategy, and then acting upon it. So, it will be the middle ground, edging towards strategy over counters.

Here are the 3 things to keep in mind:

#1 A strategy

#2 Some counters for the biggest threats. These should ideally fit into your strategy, as well as provide some all around support/defense/offense.

#3 Some glue. I mean this metaphorically, as you'll want to tinker with sets (and/or EVs) or even add a pokemon or two in order to give your team better cohesion. This is what most people who made RMTs these past few months must've forgotten. YOU CAN'T JUST THROW A BUNCH OF STANDARD COUNTERS AND SWEEPERS TOGETHER AND CALL IT A TEAM. I know that I probably was not the first person to say this, but please, I cannot stress this point enough: YOUR TEAM NEEDS COHESION. Call it cohesion, call it flow, call it relevance, but whatever you call it, make sure your team has it.

So, bearing these 3 things in mind, build a team that would seem fantastic by reading other's RMTs, pokemon analyses, and maybe counseling with a few players of D/P (like Jibaku).

If I forgot anything important, tell me and I'll edit my post to include it.
 
Whilst this is true, why is it common practice for whenever someone posts an "different" moveset in a RMT, they are always, always, told to change their team movesets to "standard"?

Two reasons.
1. Their different moveset is actually just a worse version of the standard moveset.
2. Their different moveset just sucks.
3. The person who said that really shouldn't be rating teams.

That was more than two reasons, but I think you get the idea.
 
And to add a 4., Their different moveset may have a surprise factor that doesn't quite outweigh, in the long run, the benefits of the standard moveset.

Also, the voice of reason, that was a very solid post.
 
Electrode is way too much of a liability for your team after Gyarados (and I kinda doubt that he could kill Gyarados before Gyarados could DD and kill it with EQ or Waterfall).

Electrode easily OHKOes Gyarados with Thunderbolt, especially with Life Orb, and still outspeeds it after one Dragon Dance, so it can switch in on the setup turn. Life Orb also boosts his normally crappy Explosion to help take a chunk out of something else.
 
The only problem with being told that your moveset is only a variation of a standard or not as good as a standard here is that the metagame hasn't even really begun yet. We have a few people on wi-fi and that's the extent of it.

I think that while a few people (such as Jumpman, Misty, and Surgo) have had good ideas, too many jump onto their words and treat them as gospel. I know the ones who provide the theories and ideas go out of your way to explain your logic, but for the most part all the teams and rating methods that I see are basically Jumpman or Misty's words reiterated.

It's kind of like taking a standard moveset and making it worse, which you generally see when someone doesn't fully comprehend why a moveset exists.
 
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