Haven't touched the game really since I beat the main game, don't know if I'll go through the effort of doing post-game, but here's my final team from my first proper playthrough of the game, in order of when I caught each.
Inteleon (M), Lv. 62, Mystic Water (Torrent)
Froslass (F), Lv. 62, Wise Glasses (Snow Cloak)
Tsareena (F), Lv. 62, Muscle Band (Queenly Majesty)
Coalossal (F), Lv. 62, Rocky Helmet (Steam Engine)
Perrserker (M), Lv. 61, Metal Coat (Battle Armor)
Dracozolt (-), Lv. 63, Leftovers (Volt Absorb)
It's worth noting I let myself get leaked before the game came out, as at first I wasn't planning on buying the game but eventually caved since I wanted to give it a proper playthrough before passing criticism. As such, I planned out my team before jumping into the game.
I love Sobble, but really wasn't feeling its evolutions at all. Using Inteleon had me come around a little, but evolution-wise, I still think Cinderace is the best. Was mostly the pivot of the team, equipped with Sucker Punch for priority kills, Snipe Shot for solid damage, Soak for set-ups and U-Turn for switching into someone else easily. Often comboed Soak into Tsareena's Trop Kick on bulkier foes that Tsareena could take a hit from if she couldn't outspeed.
Froslass and Tsareena I had to get by using date manipulations in the Wild Area to find/catch. If nothing else, I can commend this game for actually letting me get an Ice-type early game, even if it still gates most of the new Ice types I wanted to try to late game, by the time I already finished my team. Had to go through a couple encounters to get a female Snorunt, and a few more to get a Bounsweet with Oblivious, which becomes Queenly Majesty once fully evolved.
Froslass was my special-based glass (or ice) cannon, able to deal good special damage with some coverage. Equipped with Psychic, Frost Breath, Shadow Ball, and Will-O-Wisp. Shadow Ball was Hex, but she got that move from leveling up during the championship fight. Oops.
Tsareena was the opposite, physical based instead of special, and still somewhat of a glass cannon but not as vulnerable as Froslass. She ran Trop Kick, Zen Headbutt, High Jump Kick, and Draining Kiss. Queenly Majesty was also great for snuffing priority moves, which happened more times than I thought it would.
Put Rolycoly onto the team because A) I rarely use Rock-types, B) I don't have to trade to fully evolve this one, thankfully, and C) Rock/Fire's a unique typing, and I needed the Fire type slot filled after I decided to stick with Sobble instead of Scorbunny. Had Body Press, Heat Crash, Tar Shot, and Stealth Rock. Proved to be the most bulky member of the team, surprisingly, was even decently fast without the Steam Engine boost. Had the most flexible role, as I could send it in as a lead with Stealth Rock or as a physical bulkster that took hits and hit them right back, whether with one of its two crushing moves or by setting up with Tar Shot into Heat Crash.
Found out you can get Galarian Meowth pretty early, right before the first badge, and I really like Regional Forms, so I decided to pick it up and get Perrserker. His usefulness kinda petered out by the end game when things were getting stronger/faster, but was still reliable through and through. His learnset could've been better, though. Early game I was using either Hone Claws, Iron Head, or Pay Day for cherrytapping, while by the end I was just always using Heavy Slam for STAB or SE damage.
And then Dracozolt, probably the one I spent the most time just trying to get. Drake Fossil is in Shield natively, but the Bird Fossil isn't as easy to get. Spent 30 minutes grinding Max Raid Dens and Rotom Rally to get watts to burn with the Digging Duo until I got it after twenty something digs, yeesh. Not the best Electric type or the best Dragon type, but was a solid member of my team. Ran with Brutal Swing, Discharge (Bolt Beak now, but only got it during the championship), Earth Power, and Breaking Swipe. Not gonna lie, they didn't really have much of a role on my team... I often just pulled them out to get experience, since it seems their leveling curve is slower than the rest of my teams, and my OCD hates when every member of my team isn't the same level.
Might revisit the game again someday, for no other reason than to just try more Pokemon I didn't the first time around that I wanted to.
