Offense VS defense

[Walrein]

I'm more of an offensive-minded trainer-most of my Pokemon are sweepers, I also like Choice items very much. The defensive Pokemon I do run are the likes of Walrein and Articuno-those stallers and supportes that are still cepable for attacking when needed; I just have a hard time using offensively-immobilised Pokemon (read: I never used Shuckle)...Ice is also a rather shaky defensive typing, but fanatstric on the offensive side.

[~GodricGryffindor9~]

well in emerald i never cared about strategy and weakness. all i cared about was getting my pokemon strong enough to ko almost anything even type disadvantages. until i got gale of darkness in wich case it completely turned that around.

[Kyone]

For me it is speed and strong attack so I can hit them as hard as possible...but with that I must also have strategy too...

[Retribution]

I lean more towards offense when I create a team, however I do have the odd tanks and defensive Pokemon (e.g: Golem etc. :))

[Haza]

I focus on offense but with some Defense is necessary to gain offensive abilities like Leftovers Gyra that I use.

[ramsey]

I'm all about offense. Ever since I got Red Version I've been all about offense. It's just faster.

[OokamiShipper]

They're both useful, but I use offense more than defense. But defense is effective when I'm battling others. xD

[Hamako-chan]

My party is usually offense but I still use some tankers like Golem to help me beat my friends when I connect to them.

[Vrai]

Defense is only useful when battling offensive minded trainers; however, offense works just as well against offense. That said, I'd like to be the first to say I'm a defensively-minded trainer.

[Lady Gaga]

i guess i am a mix of both, but of course, like almost everybody, i am more offenisve.

[Bloodex]

Offense, definalty. I know it helps and everything, but defence to me seems like a waste of time. Beter to go offensive, in my point of veiw. If defense flats your boat, go for it, but im the offense guy. XD

[jigglyppuff8]

I understand the values of defense and if you were to ask me which was better, I'd say defense. However, I find it easier to find, build, and use movesets built around offense... I like defense but find myself using offense more often.

[Lynnx]

I definitely play offensive, mainly because I don't have the patience to focus on Defense. Speed is a major focus for me, because it drives me crazy when my Pokemon faint because they aren't fast enough to land a hit first. Special Attack and Attack come next, and I just think of HP/Defense/Sp. Defense as a bonus. Which is probably why I absolutely fail at competitive battling, but I only battle in-game anyways. ._.;;;

[Nnoitra Jiruga]

I would balance my team out. 3 offense 3 defense perhaps? < 3

[Wolflare]

I like Stalling teams as they are harder to make, so it is defense.

[QANTAN]

Like the sweeping ranged team. Get rid of them fast so they don't have a chance. Although I do try out some other teams, the sweeping ranged one is the one I like best.

[Silhouette]

I generally focus on both (like a kind of balance), but I think I'm more defensive-oriented.

[Lila]

The question is sort of vague. Obviously most people play through the actual game with a purely offensive team; what point is there in doing otherwise when you're not battling competitively? It'd just take too long, and wouldn't be worth it at all.

That said, when it comes to competitive battling, I prefer a little bit of both. I also dislike pokemon like shuckle, since people can switch in on him and set up, so he's not that great. Blissey is a very defensive pokemon, but I've seen her manage to sweep four or more pokemon in a row because she's so difficult to take down, and has a move like seismic toss which is reliable damage all the time.

Battling with purely defensive teams can go okay, but usually if anything goes wrong it's not good. It's always good to mix defensive and offensive together; a well built team with both offensive and defensive pokemon will most likely be able to take out a team that's purely offensive. There are different strategies, though... so for a doubles hail team I'm making, there's a surprising amount of defensive pokemon on it; mainly because stalling is something that hail teams do fantastically. :)

[Feuer]

Depends what you're trying to achieve. if you're looking for a quick battle, an easy way to finish off the opponent, offensive for sure, but if you want to induce status and slowly watch them get KO'ed, then a stall technique would be suited there, so defensive. They're both great, but I like offensive mainly because I CBF waiting 1 hour to finish a battle.

[Mattysaurus]

I usually use Offensive, but sometimes have Defensive Pokemon for certains battles to stall people.

[.]

Ah, the age old question of Offense vs. Defense. In the early stages of ADV and DPPt, Stall (Defense) was favored due to the lack of offensive power. Whereas many of the powerful sets and stall breakers still existed (Swords Dance Lucario, Choice Band Tyranitar, Mixed Infernape, Tyraniboah, etc...) many of them did not catch on, and when they did the user of said sweeper would usually meet something to "check" it. Hippowdon was a dominant lead in most early DPPt teams due to its massive defensive capabilities, auto Sandstorm, and sheer awesomeness. SkarmBliss was quite usable in ADV and even DPPt, although once things like Tyraniboah and Mixed Infernape caught on, it was turning into an easier walling combination to stop. Pretty soon, people started to stop relying on stopping opponents in general, and relied on resistances and immunties. Things such as "GrowthTran" (Tangrowth and Heatran used in conjunction for walling) started popping up, and later on, the more effective "CeleTran" (Celebi and Heatran used in conjunction for walling) was made.

As the defensive sets became more effective, so did the offensive sets. Mixed Infernape was one of the most dominant "Stall Breakers" (sweepers designed to defeat stall teams) around, yet it folded to things such as Vaporeon, Starmie (provided it didn't come in on a Grass Knot), and of course, Tentacruel. It seemed as if Mixed Infernape would die out...however, other sets came up from obscurity, such as a more physically offensive Infernape (which can 2HKO Vaporeon 60% of the time with Stealth Rock according to Smogon), and even Swords Dance Infernape (very effective). "MixMence" (Salamence with a moveset of Draco Meteor / Fire Blast / Brick Break / Roost or Crunch), came around and became a top threat to all teams, not exclusively stall. Stall started to decline, but still remained pretty common. Offense dominated the metagame pretty much, and things such as "Suicide Leads" (usually fast Pokemon used to set up Stealth Rock, Spikes, or even Reflect and Light Screen). In response to Suicide Leads, "Anti-Leads" were made. Anti-Leads incapitated Suicide Leads, as it was their job.

Platinum brought about a huge amount of changes. Scizor gained Bullet Punch and Superpower, meaning it skyrocketed to the number 1 used Pokemon on the Shoddy Battle Ladder. Of course, it had many checks such as Zapdos, Rotom-H (Heat), Heatran, Gyarados, etc...Salamence gained Outrage, which made its Dragon Dance set nearly unstopabble (it requires quite a bit of prediction or a well placed Mamoswine to take one out). Its Mixed set now became harder to stop, as Outrage would O-2HKO things used to take Draco Meteors, such as Slowking and even Snorlax. Brick Break became unnecessary as Outrage did more to Blissey and Snorlax.

As of now, stall is being used more and more, especially in the new UU, where many support options exist (Registeel, Spiritomb, etc...) I prefer Offense, but Defense is indeed fun.

[Inferno1]

I like both but i like having mixed pokemon like torkoal he has got excellent defence good offence and good sp att but i voted defence because having defence it awesome

[Artyte]

Dude, if you have read the rules, this should not be in the general section, i think. It should be somewhere around the gaming strategies section or gaming. I'm not gonna report, but just to say, this thread might be locked.

Me? I like defensive, offensive was not my type.

[Wolflare]

Dude, if you have read the rules, this should not be in the general section, i think. It should be somewhere around the gaming strategies section or gaming. I'm not gonna report, but just to say, this thread might be locked.

Me? I like defensive, offensive was not my type.
This is where it is supposed to be. If it was in S&M, then it would be locked since there they only allow RMTs, Suspect Discussions, and what not. This is the forum for every Pokemon game, and it is for gaming. O_o

[Caelus]

My teams are usually designed with offense in mind, so normally I favor offense over defense.
Rarely have I ever shift my focus towards defense, and usually when I do it ends up badly.

[Designation_Leader]

I like talking about this.

I generally use offense, and I have a pretty decent reason around it:

When RBY came out, I was a defensive trainer. I preferred Pokemon that could take hits and dish them out as well. Now, in the current metagame, we call these Tanks. This meant I usually chose Squirtle so I could get a powerful Blastoise. My final team in RBY was:

-Blastoise
-Snorlax
-Vaporeon
-Rhydon
-Magneton
- *insert training Pokemon here*

However, a few years later, GSC was released (which also meant a new Game Boy...). I went out and got Gold, while my cousin got Silver and Crystal. She got bored with it and gave them to me. That's when I noticed the invention EVs and IVs. I started my career as a breeder, but didn't care for IVs. I EV trained my butt off on my Pokemon, but I was missing something. I noticed that my previous strategy of using Tanks would no longer work. I had to resort to something else. It was at that moment that I switched to a mix of Tanks and what we now call Sweepers. I then discovered one of the probably strongest Pokemon of its time during this moment of revelation: Shuckle. I restarted my games, and my final team in GSC was:

-Typhlosion
-Pidgeot
-Steelix
-Umbreon
-Lugia
-Shuckle

A few more years later, RSE was released (which meant, yet again, another Game Boy). I was getting the hang of the Tank/Sweeper party, but when I discovered no Johto Pokemon in Hoenn, I needed an alternative. With relatively few Tanks and Walls, I switched to complete offense. Speed and power was now my main priority, including HM slaves (I had previously used my own party Pokemon with HMs. One time, I had a Feraligatr with Surf, Waterfall, Rock Smash, and Strength) I then discovered a few more Pokemon that would become staples in any party I desired. My final team by RSE was:

-Blaziken
-Ninjask
-Salamence
-Metagross
-Gyarados
-*insert training Pokemon here*

This brings us to now. DP was released, and I got a DS. With relatively few Fire Pokemon in the Dex, I needed all the firepower I needed. I discovered the perfect HM slave during my first few minutes of the game. Bibarel became a staple, but not a battler. I basically carried it everywhere, but trained another, powerful fighter in-between time. My team at the end of DP was:

-Infernape
-Luxray
-Garchomp
-Gyarados
-Staraptor
-Lucario

When I get Platinum in March, my wholegame plan may change. Right now, I am focusing on my breeding skills and my contest skills. I'm getting quite good, but I always battle though.

To sum it up: I use offense, but defense is nice. I just like sharing stories...^_^

[Artyte]

This is where it is supposed to be. If it was in S&M, then it would be locked since there they only allow RMTs, Suspect Discussions, and what not. This is the forum for every Pokemon game, and it is for gaming. O_o

Gaming is for gaming section, not for the general section. It was stated explicitly.

[blazeape]

I'm always trying to make team's and my brother Icy Void is alway's saying their to offensive

[Ashbox]

My Pokemon battle style has always been...... 'hit them quick and hit them hard' ......

offense is always a higher priority than defense in my opinion

[Fusktacular Frizzlee]

offensive definitely for me :bandit:

[Chérii]

Generally, the metagame contains a mixture of both, which introduced sweepers and walls. However, since the debut of Platinum the metagame has become more and more offense-oriented, leading to more straightforward attacking rather than the strategies introduced only a couple generations before.

I still prefer defensive strategies.

[FastTonyDeNiro]

In-game, I focus totally on offense. There's no point wasting time on defensive moves when the trainers in-game really aren't that hard. Every now and then, especially early in the game when my party is still weak, I'll use growl or sand attack, but eventually I replace them with attacks.

[Taisuru]

I'd say defense. If you can last longer than your opponent, does anything else really matter?

[.]

I'd say defense. If you can last longer than your opponent, does anything else really matter?

This sort of thinking was indeed valid back in ADV and early DPPt. I wish it still were, but it's really hard to check and counter everything. Some Pokemon run sets specifically designed to destroy counters, "hax" (a term for luck, such as critical hits occuring) can also ruin your walling combinations. Defensive teams are much harder to construct than offensive teams; successful ones at least.

[Ninja Caterpie]

I have a ridiculously hard time walling or tanking, so offense is what I'm best at. =P

[aaronburnsyou]

I'm actually new to the competitive battling scene, so I'm pretty sure my opinion is subject to change as I become more adept at it.

Anyway, I prefer defense over offense, because I always like being able to take hits. Also, with defensive pokemon, you can spend a turn on HP recovery safely, while it's rather risky trying to do so with a purely offensive pokemon. However, I'm not interested in the idea of a purely defensive pokemon either. I prefer defense over offense, but I like my pokemon to be able to fight back at the same time. For example, ever since the beginning (of the 2nd gen), I've always known that Meganium was a defense oriented pokemon, but from my experiences, it always had high enough offensive stats to back it up as well. Those stats may not have been too high in comparison to other choices, but it was enough to get in some good Body Slams or Solarbeams on my opponents.

However, I'm not saying that one is better than the other, because they seem to make perfect rivals with each other. While offensive pokemon can easily sweep through each other, a defensive pokemon may be able to absorb or block the hits. While defensive pokemon can endure many hits, they're the ones that offensive pokemon can endure hits from as well.

[Mario The World Champion]

I prefer Offense over Defense. If you're defensive, you limit yourself.

[BenjiTheKid]

I'm more offensive. I don't like beating around the bush and like getting straight to the point. I'm this way in about every game I play. I don't like using moves like "harden" or "Screech" or things of that nature and, in fact, find them to be quite the bother. They're usually the ~first~ moves that get written over once my Pokemon reaches a certain level.

However, with the way in some of the newer games you can battle with 2 Pokemon at a time, I find a few of the defensive moves to be of some use. But, only when they boost my other Pokemon's move or things such as. One example I can think of right now is the move where your Pokemon "protects himself" and, in a double battle, when he does this- he protects both of your Pokemon. This move can come in handy if you have a Pokemon that knows (one of my favorite moves!) Earthquake! Say I have a Espeon that can "protect himself" (seriously! what is that move? it's on the TIP of my tongue... it's not light screen... right? something similar, I think) and an Ursaring that knows Earthquake on the field at the same time. I'll have Espeon protect them and then, Ursaring will use Earthquake. Espeon won't be harmed at all!

I think that, sometimes, you should have at least one Pokemon with a defensive move. Because they can come in handy. But, like I said, I prefer just getting straight to the action so I /usually/ don't use defensive moves.

[Bibliophibian]

I usually go for all out offense. I don't have many non-damaging moves on my Pokemon most of the time, though there are a few (Confuse Ray, Psych Up, Moonlight) that I keep around for the odd occasion where I need them.

I really lean towards quick Pokemon with a good attack or special attack, but there are certain times when I'll pick a Pokemon with better defenses over one with higher atk/sp.atk. If something can take a few hits and dish out good damage, I'll sometimes pick it over a glass-cannon style Pokemon, since if the whole team was like that... it wouldn't go so well in a sticky situation.

[Chives Yo]

Well, since I'm not one for competitive battling or strategy, I just teach my Pokemon a bunch of damaging moves and HM's with the occasional recovery move for good measure. I usually get rid of any attacks that don't cause HP loss, so I guess that makes me an offensive battler.

[True Reign]

I always have a defensive team with maybe one or two sweepers in it.

I voted for defense.

[Barney.]

Both.

I can't pick one.

I use Defensive Pokemon, e.g. Miltank, Bastiodon, Slowking.

And Offensive, e.g. Heracross, Mawile, Weavile.

And a bit of both...e.g. Tyranitar...

[Roswell]

Well, "Offense is the best defense, after all." could apply to my opinion. But I think it depends on the situation. 'Course, I'm not one for competitive battling, so...

[Idiot!]

Although I prefer offense, I don't mind torturing someone to death.

[Dark Azelf]

I generally prefer all out offense, because its been proven it is the #1 style of battling as pretty much ANY successful team is offensive. Due to the fact that this play style lessens the chance for crits and "hax" because you are the one on the offensive all the time, it forces your opponent on the back foot to defend. Its pretty much (usually fast) sweepers who overwhelm the opposition and are central around a strategy. Its also easier to team build too because if you have an outstanding weakness you can just slap a scarf on something and call it a day and revenge kill a threat or use a "check" (For example, Lucario is a Tyranitar check, because although it dies to EQ, it can come in on crunch and stone edge and pose an immediate threat). Bulky offense is pretty good too, whilst still offensive its not AS offensive as all out, its the #2 play style in terms of success.


Defensive play aka "stall" takes alot more team building ability and because you have to actually counter threats, rather than using "checks" and revenge killers it takes lot more thought to pull off this play style. It is hard to do and does have problems with the sheer power of threats in the metagame now, has a tendancy to get overwhelmed and in general is inferior to offensive play styles. Although it still can work, however you have to really have excellent battling skills and team building skills.

[Selene Gallio]

Undoubtedly,it's offense the one that determines the outcome of a Pokemon battle,but it's equally quite risky focusing on strategies that involve *only* offensive techniques.A good example is probably Zangoose that has a quite commendable attack rate,but lacks severely in terms of defense-at least,in comparison to the rest of its stats-.Some claim that the ideal team is composed of Pokemon that thrive in attack/special attack,while defense/special defense is quite neglected.For instance,Dragonite owns mighty offensive abilities,but it's true it can be easily taken down,if stroke with Ice-type or Dragon-type moves(quite in fact,it's quite common to defeat a Dragonite by landing only one Ice-type attack).I really doubt that by training your Pokemon on an offensive scale solely,you get the win *ALL* the time,considering that on certain occasions you have to reenforce your defense in order to gain victory.It's evenly hard,nevertheless,to rely *only* on your defensive skills to achieve victory.Defense-based battles require patience(okay,a LOT of patience)in order to be concluded-and,especially,if the opposing Pokemon possesses recistance to your Pokemon's moves-,not to mention that it's wiser to teach your Pokemon mainly powerful moves that are unfortunately of lower Power Points and,worse,are of lower accuracy,say,Thunder.

Me,I prefer neither defense,nor offense.A balanced training is the key to win a battle,in my opinion.Besides,*nobody* wants his/her Pokemon faint without launching a single hit and *nobody* wants to waste precious time,attempting to defeat his/her foes.Though,I have a certain preference for raising my critical-hit ratio,so I usually give my Pokemon these sorts of items(Razor Claw,etc.).

[Cold Fusion]

I love to have defensive types, but I try to at least have some offensive in my teams.
I would use offensives but I just can't seem to use them aswell as defending and then knocking the other team.
I would say I am more the defensive type!

[fenyx4]

Offense. Especially so my Fire Pokemon can incinerate their foes! :D The games are offense-oriented anyway, so I might as well get in and sweep quickly to reduce my troubles (and excessively drawn-out battles, which I hate)

[Walrein]

I generally prefer all out offense, because its been proven it is the #1 style of battling as pretty much ANY successful team is offensive. Due to the fact that this play style lessens the chance for crits and "hax" because you are the one on the offensive all the time, it forces your opponent on the back foot to defend. Its pretty much (usually fast) sweepers who overwhelm the opposition and are central around a strategy. Its also easier to team build too because if you have an outstanding weakness you can just slap a scarf on something and call it a day and revenge kill a threat or use a "check" (For example, Lucario is a Tyranitar check, because although it dies to EQ, it can come in on crunch and stone edge and pose an immediate threat). Bulky offense is pretty good too, whilst still offensive its not AS offensive as all out, its the #2 play style in terms of success.


Defensive play aka "stall" takes alot more team building ability and because you have to actually counter threats, rather than using "checks" and revenge killers it takes lot more thought to pull off this play style. It is hard to do and does have problems with the sheer power of threats in the metagame now, has a tendancy to get overwhelmed and in general is inferior to offensive play styles. Although it still can work, however you have to really have excellent battling skills and team building skills.
Couldn't agree more, sadly I don't you think the same of me. Today's metagame is very offensive, expecially with the amount of priority going around. I didn't see Bronzing around for alot of time...

[⋚Raika⋚]

Offense to the MAX! I couldn't CARE LESS about defense, since by defending you would only give the opponent a chance to ram you even harder, so I would attack them with ALL I GOT!