Other Your Teambuilding Process

[Paaadeli!]

I guess you are right. What I meant (and I'll try to reword it) is that, when playing offense, you want to have at least one strong or probable win condition. It doesn't work in every battle, but things like Mega Tyranitar at +1, Mega Pinsir at +2 and Manaphy at +3 are your likely win conditions. While it is true you cannot determine your win condition before battle, you usually have a pretty solid grasp of what will be doing the big damage. Zapdos and Azelf are rarely win conditions, CM Clefable and DD Mega Char-X are commonly win conditions. It is true that you can not chose your win condition until later on in the battle, a lot of the time on offense (for me personally) the same two or three mons usually end up winning or doing heavy damage more often than not.

But if that thing dies then you must choose a new win conditon :p

 

[Celticpride]

But if that thing dies then you must choose a new win conditon :p

Yes. I understand what you are getting at. My point is that if my fictional team is Mega Tyranitar, Chesnaught, Azelf, Starmie, Sylveon and Latios, most of the time Latios and Tyranitar are going to be carrying the team. Ches, Azelf, Sylveon and Starmie are very rarely going to be win conditions, they are all more or less support. 95% of the time Latios and Mega TTar are going to be win conditions. That should be factored into teambuilding. You have to make sure you have a Mega TTar type on offensive teams, and have a second one in reserve. By the time I get to Starmie or Sylveon carrying the load I'm probably going to lose anyway.

 

[Paaadeli!]

Yes. I understand what you are getting at. My point is that if my fictional team is Mega Tyranitar, Chesnaught, Azelf, Starmie, Sylveon and Latios, most of the time Latios and Tyranitar are going to be carrying the team. Ches, Azelf, Sylveon and Starmie are very rarely going to be win conditions, they are all more or less support. 95% of the time Latios and Mega TTar are going to be win conditions. That should be factored into teambuilding. You have to make sure you have a Mega TTar type on offensive teams, and have a second one in reserve. By the time I get to Starmie or Sylveon carrying the load I'm probably going to lose anyway.

Ahhh. gotcha :]

 

[0besity]

The only time I've had success with a team was when I built around a single Pokemon. Even with that team I only reached the 1500s. High 1500s, but still 1500s.

 

[DDDchu]

I usually pick a good mega with a lot of team options or a good starter, and build around that, then build around the compatible pokemon after that one and so on. I try to rely on staying alive and wearing down the other pokemon more than power for the most part.

 

[SparksBlade]

Most of the times a Pokemon will just pop in my head, which is good but still less used(Skymin). This 1st mon decides what my team will be like(mostly balanced/bulky offence). Next i find a defensive partner for my main Pokemon. Basically something that can switch into attacks aimed at my main Pokemon. Sometimes i've to use 2 Pokemon for this purpose, so i try to make one of these mons multi-purpose(like stacking hazards/cleric). Then i pick something that's quite opposite to my main Pokemon- in terms of type, checks/counters, set up sweeper or not, physical or special etc. Now i just fill the few slots with good synergy Pokemon and defensive partners to the 2nd mon. Sometimes a lot of these choices coincide, so i try to look for the holes in my team from an opponent's view and try to fill it.

 

[craing ;_;]

there are two different ways i teambuild. the first one is that i teambuild starting with a mon, idea, and/or an interesting skeleton/core that has already been established in which i can improve upon. The second way i teambuild is much more arbitrary, in which i build oppositely to the way i currently build(will explain later).

the first way is the method i typically use the most. i usually can make a sure-fire judgement based on whether what i see is something that is good, bad, or something i can make better through some means of support. i'm not going to go into detail about team roles, movesets, and type synergy because i feel like they have already been overstated in this thread and its pretty self-explanatory. in essence, i just consider all my available options and choose the combination best sees fit. this is mostly attributed to personal experience and how much you know about the meta from start to present as well, since it helps you connect the pieces together more cohesively.

as for the second method, i only generally use this method when im bored of the current meta or when i can't think of anything else to build with. i find all the things that i haven't built with or used before that i think can work and i start from there. any mon(s), moveset, or a theme would work and i put it into teambuilder (this makes sure that i deviate away from standard builds). i then start to build around whatever i chose, but i don't build towards the premise of making a team around it, i just have fun with it and see where it can take me. this is hard to internalize so i'll go ahead and provide a recent example as to what i mean by this.

yesterday i wanted to build a team using crawdaunt, seeing as a majority of my balanced/bulky off teams were wrecked by it, so i thought it would be a mon with alot of potential. however, i never really seen it used on a good team effectively and that the only other circumstances that i can come up with is using it on hyper offense(so its bad defensive typing and bulk isn't overshadowed by azu), volturn(so it can be safely brought in), and trick room(so it ouspeeds sht). i started to go into this direction, but i didn't want to make my build similar to that of hugos(which was avazu,logar,scarflandt,megaman,sdlocraw,leadchomp) so i took out only the main proponents being landt, megaman, and craw. i considered making my team full on volt turn so i went ahead and added rotom>megaman,torn-t, and megazor. i noticed that the team had torn-t, mega manec, and craw so i thought of rain. crawdaunt wasn't as effective in rain since other ss users outclassed it, so instead i thought of sharpedo which can function out of rain and wasn't as weak due to rain buff.

now i wanted to take on a tr perspective and see where it led me. seeing as how a majority of tr teams had daunt on it, i knew that i wanted to differentiate mine from them but still uphold my standards. i noticed that alot of them were full-on and dedicated teams, so i thought about taking a semi-tr approach, more so with a revenge killer that can work outside of tr and mons that not only can dish out dmg, but also take hits and retaliate if tr is down. now, i have basis of what i want to use and a theme i can work with (i chose tr out of the other 3 options since i haven't made any tr teams yet). as i looked through viable tr setters, i found a hidden gem in celebi, which i thought was effective since it can check/wall a majority of the meta and provide additional support in heal wish and bp. seeing as how tr teams kind of struggle against priority, i wanted extra security against offense so i chose talonflame, which is nice since i don't have to run a counterproductive scarfer as well. however, since i was running talonflame, i needed a spinner(i did not like defog since it removes my own hazards as well). mega blastoise came to mind, but problems arose in not having another mega choice, but that just meant i needed to find another strong abuser of tr. as i scrolled through my options, i arrived at kyu-b which had the stats, movepool, and the versatility that i can work with. now i lacked a dedicated lead, sr setter, and a tr setter. diancie was the best option since it can take a hit (specially from hera) and can also explode so i get a safe switch into one of my threats. so far, the team looked good on paper, but now it was the time to edit it for weaknesses. unfortunately for a team with a premise of taking hits and dishing back dmg, crawdaunt didn't fit the bill, but bisharp did. the team was in desperate need of a steel type so putting it over daunt was the most reasonable approach. After figuring out the movesets and ev spreads, i came up with this.

Hide

Diancie @ Mental Herb
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Trick Room
- Stealth Rock
- Diamond Storm
- Explosion

Bisharp @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 232 HP / 252 Atk / 24 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 5 Spe
- Pursuit
- Sucker Punch
- Knock Off
- Low Kick

Kyurem-Black @ Life Orb
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 232 HP / 24 Atk / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature
- Ice Beam
- Fusion Bolt
- Earth Power
- Iron Head

Celebi @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 240 HP / 176 Def / 60 SpD / 32 Spe
Bold Nature
- Trick Room
- Recover
- Healing Wish
- Baton Pass

Blastoise-Mega @ Blastoisinite
Ability: Mega Launcher
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature
IVs: 21 Spe
- Rapid Spin
- Hydro Pump
- Dark Pulse
- Aura Sphere

Talonflame @ Sharp Beak
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 88 HP / 252 Atk / 168 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Flare Blitz
- Brave Bird
- Roost

not only did i get a fun, interesting team i can work with, but its up to the standards i set out for myself as well. i just felt the need to share my way of building since its been effective for me and alot of people happen to struggle when they try to build. just my 2 cents and hope this helped.

 

[Bluwing]

okay ill hop on the train! So basically im an extremely offensive player, and I like to use unusual pokemon and surprising sets to catch my opponent off guard, but ofc this has nothing to do with the teambuilding thats just what i like to do cuz i like being creative :)

so ill give u guys an very easy concept too build pure ho teams, which ive been using myself for awhile now. so basically the concept goes like this:

lead/turner/wallbreaker+stallbreaker/3 sweepers

this concept is so easy and effective, but ofc there are some rules you have to follow when you build ho teams which are:

Hazards: hazards is needed because this will put pressure on the opposing team as offensive teams tends to force a lot off switches.

Priority: priority is needed because speed is crucial on an ho team, it also lets you revenge stuff like setup sweepers, and works well with your own setup sweepers.

Momentum: momentum is the most important thing on ho team, you lose the momentum u lose the game, so thats why you would have a turner, and also this is why offense can afford to sack pokemon for another to setup, so keep this in mind!

Stallbreaking: stallbreaking is extremely important, because most stall teams have their own way to beat offense. therefor moves like taunt or strong pokemon like medicham, gardevoir and heracross are great choices for stallbreaking.

so when working with ho this is the concept i follow, ill post a team here as an example and tell why i chose those pokemon for this exact team.

Importable

Smeargle @ Focus Sash
Ability: Own Tempo
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Dark Void
- Magic Coat
- Spikes
- Stealth Rock

Victini @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Victory Star
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- V-create
- Bolt Strike
- Brick Break
- U-turn

Heracross @ Heracronite
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Pin Missile
- Rock Blast
- Swords Dance

Azumarill @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 52 HP / 252 Atk / 204 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Aqua Jet
- Play Rough
- Waterfall
- Belly Drum

Landorus (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 48 Atk / 252 SpA / 208 Spe
Rash Nature
- Earth Power
- Psychic
- Knock Off
- Rock Polish

Dragonite @ Lum Berry
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Outrage
- Fire Punch
- ExtremeSpeed
- Dragon Dance

okay so as you guys can see ive followed the formula and this is what i ended up with, this team is very physical in the exception off landorus which means i can easely overpower physical walls which means that in the end one off my physical attacker will sweep. also since i have so many physical hard hitters i can easely wear down special walls for landorus to sweep as well. the reason to have 3 sweepers is to have more versatility in your sweeping potential as it's really hard for a team to check 3 different sweepers. so ill make a small discription on all off the pokemon ive chosen and im done :)

Lead: so i went with the smeargle lead cuz it's cool and i wanted to use it lol. so smeargle is good because it can put 1 pokemon out off the game early 100% off the time if played well + getting up at least rocks which is extremely good for an offensive team.

Turner: i went with victini cuz i's a cool scarfer it has nice coverage, it beats every dd'er except zard x which is an potential threath to this team, but you won't let it setup anyway. and also it forces a lot off switches and walls gardevoir which is cool i guess. final gambit can be used as well, but it's up to preference.

Wallbreaker+Stallbreaker: i went with mega heracross here because it complents my team very well with it's immense power and nice coverage, breaking down the opposing team for my sweepers to clean.

Sweepers: azumarill, landorus and dragonite are cool sweepers because i got priority, insane power, coverage and speed. also when i choose my sweepers i go with pokemon that can setup up on what the other one might lose to or different types. like azu sets up on greninja, keldeo etc, lando on venusaur, ferrothorn etc, and dragonite on talonflame, rotom-w etc. so basically they just complents eachother and sets up on w/e the one sweeper lost too, or i can force out that pokemon with victini to bring some other sweepers in for free.

so that was basically it, i might not be the best one to explain, but this concept has worked excellent for me and i hope it works excellent for you guys if u opt to try it out!

 

[pj]

Hi,
I want to share my team building process to you guys hope you like it

1) I first see synergy its the most important part of my team if my team synergy is bad I cant win single battle I know it.

2) I always go first for Defoger/spinners as I don't want any loss of life on my pokemons

3) I try to make teams based on cores like Sand Rush core or Scizor and Heatran core

4) I start with sash pokemon and mostly suicide lead sometimes when my Opp tries to increase stats then I will try to kill it.

5) I will want 1 pokemon that can withstand special moves and another pokemon that can withstand physical moves.
6) I want a pokemon that can have no effect on Status moves like toxic, will o wisp etc.

7) just like Jirachee I want a pokemon that's Immune to Electric.

8) also I want pokemon that's Immune to Ground.

9) I want a choice scarf pokemon so that it can outspeed any other pokemon such as greninja.

10) I want a pokemon that can act as Late game sweeper like Sand Rush offense I use it last to change the outcome of the match

now my team is ready :)

 

[WideTomato]

Is it too late to share? Why am I always missing out on cool stuff ;-;

I always start out a new team with a pokemon I find cool/interesting/strong or just one I want to get more knowledge about in other to support a argument about it etc. I'll use a team I recently build as an example I'll write it in curvy (like that word :3) I started out with a Venomoth, as I found its quilverpass set interesting, and As this is a supportive pokemon, I needed to add something it could actually support.



Secondly I find some pokemon that synergies nicely with the pokemon I chose to build around, either defensively or offensively, this could be a pokemon that can check some of my first mons counter, something that supports it, or as of this team something that appreciate its support. At this point I added landorus-I and agility ampheros, both of which I really like and wanted to use. They both really appreciate a quilverpass (even though ampheros looks gay enough already). They also have decent deffensive synergy, at least outside of their nasty ice weakness, where ampheros resist water and lando is immune to ground, amphy also resist flying and fire, two very spamable moves that gives lando a bit of trouble.



When I have these 2-4 pokemon at this point, I look at what the team needs, what it could use but is not deadly important. As an example if I don't have a stealth rock user or a reliable way to get rid of hazard I will add that, or if I a pokemon that can easily lead, I'll add that, I usually just repeat this step until I have a full team. In the case of this team, i first added a spdeff heatran as it can set up sr and it's a unique setter as it can beat most defoggers 1v1 it can also beat a lot of threats to the current team, such as Thundurus, latios, magnezone talonflame etc.
Going through the same step ones again I added azumarill and mamoswine, mamo as it could check dragons, as well as dishing out huge damage to everything with a life orb, I chose freeze try to catch rotom on the swich, as well as qyarados and quagsire. Azumarill was just added as it's most likely the best mon in the meta, that can beat a huge amount of the mons in this meta, it also checks threats such as keldeo, Latis, mamo, heatran and sand offence.

That's how I build teams, based on a random idea I sometimes get out of nowhere :3

 

[Gloating]

I never really have synergy in mind when I make a team, I mean I do to an extent like I refrain from using more that one with the same typing on the team unless it's a good type like Steel or Fairy and I also always have a ground immunity. Other than that I usually just throw in 6 mons for a playstyle I want to have fun with whether it's Sun, TR, Sand Offense, etc. After playing with the team a couple of times I then find out what it's weak to and then tweak it afterwards. I also don't know about anyone else but I like including atleast one Pokemon I actually like on the team but then again most of my favorite ones are in OU but I would never use shit that isn't viable in OU (Typhlosion for example) I also ALWAYS pack something that can wall break. One mon I love using for that role is LO Taunt Gengar 3 attacks as it goes like bread and butter on offense teams. I also always like to pack some form of priority on my teams and a good revenge killer like Talonflame or T-wave Thundurus. And of course I love trying out new stuff as using same teams/mons over and over gets old quick.

 

[Deleted User 241617]

When I build a team I start whith a Pokemon/ Core/ Idea, like a sand team with Charizard Y, or a balanced mega Medicham team. I usually gets my ideas from threads here on Smogon, or things I have seen be used effectivly. Then I start build my team around it and supporting it as much as I can, or I just pick other mons I want to use that I think will work, I follow the latter when I want to try out new stuff, or just to make a team that is fun to use. When I have about 4 mons I look at the team to see what I am missing. I dont have a massive list as other seems to have, but I want hazards, hazard remover, a steel type, a fairy type, a water type, and a way to beat stall. If I can I try to fit a dragon type in there too, but it is not as important. When I am done with this part (the funny part) I test my team and try to tweak it as much as I can.

 

[MasterRyuga]

how i build my teams.

step 1:decide style
step 2:choose a mon to build around
step 3:provide mons that handle top tier threats
step 4:determne weaknesses/synergy
step 5:determine a rock setter/defogger
step 6:play test skeleton and check for specific threats to team and adjust
step 7:enjoy the team, and adjust to meta shifts while maintaining theme of the team

 

[Luispeikou]

My teambuilding:
- Choose a mon or a core to build around.
- Cover top tier threats using the Viability Rank.
- Have ever: Mega, a water-type, a steel-type, a mon with immunity to elec, a mon immune to ground, a SR setter and a defogger.
- Test the team and make changes.