Team-Building Workshop

Atomic_Burrito_ said:

Okay, I'll get the Venusaur, and the Talonflame. Any other suggestions to which Pokemon I shall use? I am thinking of Ampharos, it will combat water types that would be used against the Ninetails and Talonflame, but Venusaur is already there for that. Which other Pokemon should I get for me team for the best results?

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Regular Ampharos is a big no because whatever it does is outclassed by its Mega Evolution, and your Mega slot is already taken up.

PlatinumDude said:

Regular Ampharos is a big no because whatever it does is outclassed by its Mega Evolution, and your Mega slot is already taken up.

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Okay. Any suggestions on what to use? Sorry if I'm being a hassle.

Hi guys I posted previously about trying to figure out a team to start ev training I've come up with 2 team can you give a vote on which you like ?

Team 1
Talonflame
Tyranitar
Slowbro
Mega Altria
Serperior
Gengar

Team 2
Talonflame
Tyranitar
Starmie
Mega venusaur
Garchomp
Clefable

Starting out online: Is this a good team to start with?

To start out, the game i have is Pokemon Y.

I want to start battling online. I've been searching around online for pokemon who are really good.
These are the pokemon that i have found and was thinking of making a team with them:
Garchomp
Kangaskan
Charizard or Talonflame
Wash Rotom (I already have one so its not going to be a problem to get one)
Greninja
Aiegslash

I know this team has a few overlapping parts and weaknesses and that is why ive come to the forum for help.
The other pokemon i was thinking of using were:
gengar
gardevoir
Hawlucha

I can look up online the best movesets so that isnt a problem but i was just wondering if this was a good team to start out with. Thank you in advance

Hi all. Trying my hand at a Sandstorm team. Never really tried a themed team before so any help would be appreciated.

Tyranitar
Item: Lum Berry
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Sand Stream
Crunch
Earthquake
Stone Edge
Dragon Dance
252 Attack
4 Special Defense
252 Speed

Hippowdon
Item: Leftovers
Nature: Impish
Ability: Sand Stream
Ice Fang
Earthquake
Stealth Rock
Slack Off
176 HP
252 Defense
80 Special Defense

Gliscor
Item: Toxic Orb
Nature: Impish
Ability: Toxic Heal
Knock Off
Earthquake
Toxic
Protect
236 HP
100 Defense
172 Speed

Excadrill
Item: Life Orb
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Sand Rush
Iron Head
Earthquake
Swords Dance
Rapid Spin
252 Attack
4 Defense
252 Speed

Not sure. Maybe three ground types is too much? Maybe everyone with Earthquake is too much? Maybe not? Who would complement this team well? I noticed two fighting weaknesses, two ice weaknesses, and four water weaknesses.

JohnnyGolduck said:

Hi all. Trying my hand at a Sandstorm team. Never really tried a themed team before so any help would be appreciated.

Tyranitar
Item: Lum Berry
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Sand Stream
Crunch
Earthquake
Stone Edge
Dragon Dance
252 Attack
4 Special Defense
252 Speed

Hippowdon
Item: Leftovers
Nature: Impish
Ability: Sand Stream
Ice Fang
Earthquake
Stealth Rock
Slack Off
176 HP
252 Defense
80 Special Defense

Gliscor
Item: Toxic Orb
Nature: Impish
Ability: Toxic Heal
Knock Off
Earthquake
Toxic
Protect
236 HP
100 Defense
172 Speed

Excadrill
Item: Life Orb
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Sand Rush
Iron Head
Earthquake
Swords Dance
Rapid Spin
252 Attack
4 Defense
252 Speed

Not sure. Maybe three ground types is too much? Maybe everyone with Earthquake is too much? Maybe not? Who would complement this team well? I noticed two fighting weaknesses, two ice weaknesses, and four water weaknesses.

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A very common mistake when making sand teams is loading that team up with nothing but Rock, Ground, and Steel Pokemon. This is a bad one because those three types have relatively common weaknesses.

Dragon Dance Tyranitar has to be Jolly and utilize its Mega Evolution as Adamant regular Tyranitar is still slow even at +1 Speed. Yes, it gets to outspeed base 100s after a Dragon Dance, but it fails to outspeed Garchomp and anything else faster than it (for reference, 221 Speed at level 100, which goes to 331 after a Dragon Dance). Jolly Mega Tyranitar is at 295 Speed at level 100 and hits 442 Speed after a Dragon Dance. Setting up with Dragon Dance only once or twice is enough; don't get too greedy with boosts:
-Dragon Dance
-Stone Edge
-Crunch/Ice Punch
-Superpower/Fire Punch
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spe
Item: Tyranitarite
Ability: Sand Stream

Excadrill is a good teammate for Tyranitar to have because of Sand Rush, but be aware of the shared weaknesses:
-Earthquake
-Iron Head
-Rock Slide
-Rapid Spin/Swords Dance
Nature: Adamant/Jolly
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spe
Item: Life Orb/Air Balloon
Ability: Sand Rush

Celebi is an excellent teammate for Tyranitar and Excadrill, as it handles Breloom, which is problematic for Excadrill and Tyranitar because of Mach Punch, very nicely:
-Giga Drain
-Recover
-Baton Pass/Thunder Wave
-Stealth Rock
Nature: Bold
EVs: 252 HP/156 Def/84 SDef/16 Spe
Item: Leftovers

Swords Dance Talonflame or Choice Scarf Heatran are good teammates for Heatran as they can clean up late-game after Tyranitar has done its work:

Talonflame:
-Swords Dance
-Flare Blitz
-Brave Bird/Acrobatics
-Roost
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spe
Item: Sharp Beak/Sky Plate/none
Ability: Gale Wings

or
-Swords Dance
-Brave Bird/Acrobatics
-Taunt/Will-o-Wisp
-Roost
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 248 HP/252 Atk/8 Spe
Item: Leftovers/none
Ability: Gale Wings

Heatran:
-Overheat/Fire Blast
-Flash Cannon
-Earth Power/Hidden Power (Ice)
-Stone Edge/Ancient Power
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 SAtk/4 SDef/252 Spe
Item: Choice Scarf

Swords Dance Diggersby or Garchomp are also good teammates, as they can lure in Tyranitar's counters and weaken them:

Diggersby:
-Swords Dance
-Return
-Earthquake
-Quick Attack
Nature: Adamant/Jolly
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spe
Item: Life Orb/Focus Sash
Ability: Huge Power

Garchomp:
-Swords Dance
-Dragon Claw/Outrage
-Earthquake
-Substitute/Stone Edge
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 12 HP/244 Atk/252 Spe
Item: Salac Berry/Leftovers/Lum Berry

Note: these are examples

Doubles Team

Hey everyone! Just finish building my single team, and I am quite happy about how it turn out. It might not win every battle, but it's a team I am proud of. Thanks to everyone who help me with this team, either advice or helping me with trade. You really help me out a lot!! Now it's time to build a doubles team! But I don't have a clue how to build one! I need some advice on where to start, such as good moved to have. Any advice will be great. Thanks!

Atomic_Burrito_ said:

Okay. Any suggestions on what to use? Sorry if I'm being a hassle.

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Replace Mega Absol with a Mega that can take advantage of the sun, such as Houndoom. Mega Charizard X could work too. Be sure to have a Rapid Spinner or Defogger. One of the Latis would fit in well and provide you with a check to multiple threats like Keldeo. Latias w/ Healing Wish is great to use with your sweepers.

bryzee1993 said:

snip

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Team 1 is severely weak to Weavile, so I'd use team 2.

TL903 said:

snip

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What battle format will you play in? Nintendo's Battle Spot Singles or Smogon's OU?

Vdude09 said:

Hey everyone! Just finish building my single team, and I am quite happy about how it turn out. It might not win every battle, but it's a team I am proud of. Thanks to everyone who help me with this team, either advice or helping me with trade. You really help me out a lot!! Now it's time to build a doubles team! But I don't have a clue how to build one! I need some advice on where to start, such as good moved to have. Any advice will be great. Thanks!

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What battle format will you play in? Battle Spot Doubles or VGC? Also, Smogon's Pokedex is a good resource for movesets.

Battle Spot is what I am looking at, I am no where near ready for the VGC! I will take a look at move sets, but what Pokemon would you subject?

Vdude09 said:

Battle Spot is what I am looking at, I am no where near ready for the VGC! I will take a look at move sets, but what Pokemon would you subject?

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I don't play Battle Spot, so I can't recommend anything. Here are some resources though: sample teams, viability rankings (generally best Pokemon to use), and usage stats (most popular Pokemon).

Vdude09 said:

Battle Spot is what I am looking at, I am no where near ready for the VGC! I will take a look at move sets, but what Pokemon would you subject?

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An easy to use and highly consistent team would be a CHALK team:
Cresselia, Heatran, Amoonguss, Landorus-T, Kangaskhan, and filler.

It's fairly boring but it'll help you get through BS doubles so you can witness what others are using to feed you some ideas. Look into the rankings and statistics to help you choose which Pokemon are best and what you should focus against.

I'll add on to Wolf's links and give you another viability rankings list. This comes from a more VGC oriented community and this link was relevant back when VGC15 was basically BS doubles. Rankings should never be viewed as something set in stone since everyone has their own opinions and play styles but both lists should give you a general idea of what the meta is like.

Regarding movesets, BS doubles is somewhat fast paced so going with anything that involves stall or hazards is highly discouraged. Focus mainly around STAB and Protect with utility-based (Knock off, Power Up Punch) or 4x effective (Ice beam, Hidden Powers) coverage moves.

The meta got a little stale near the end of VGC15, but the competitive scene has at least shifted to BS special allowing BS doubles to have some leg room for creative and fun teams.

Ninja/Assassin Online Team?

Hi, I recently got into online battles, and I am trying to build a Ninja/Assassin themed team. Pokemon I have so far are;

Greninja (Obviously);
Water Shuriken, Surf, Quick attack and Aerial Ace

Sylveon (Who would suspect this little devil), which has choice specs, ability is pixilate, nature is Modest
HP-294
Att-126
Def-178
Sp Att-294
Sp Def-249
Speed-131
Hyper Voice, Moon Blast, Psyshock, Shadow Ball

I am thinking Zoroark, but not too shoure (Can't spell...). If anyone can help with Pokemon choices and movesets that would be great.

I wanted to do kingler sweep team, but im a real noob when it comes to team building. I picked a few baton passers: scizor, gliscor, zapdose and i was of adding 2 suicide entry hazzards, i was thinking of them should have electroweb, just help ensure kingler will be faster
Ps: for the baton pass pokes i using off smogon, so same stats, moves and ect

PokeHunterBlack said:

Hi, I recently got into online battles, and I am trying to build a Ninja/Assassin themed team. Pokemon I have so far are;

Greninja (Obviously);
Water Shuriken, Surf, Quick attack and Aerial Ace

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Ew.. I'm going to assume this is a Protean Greninja. If it's not.. You need a new Greninja.

Scrap Quick Attack and Aerial Ace immediately.
Greninja is very versatile since it can go Special, Mixed, or Physical.
Max Speed and max whichever offense you're mainly using.
Shadow Sneak is a much better priority move.
Some other moves: Ice Beam, Dark Pulse, Gunk Shot, Low Kick, Rock Slide, Grass Knot, Scald, U-Turn.

PokeHunterBlack said:

Sylveon (Who would suspect this little devil), which has choice specs, ability is pixilate, nature is Modest
HP-294
Att-126
Def-178
Sp Att-294
Sp Def-249
Speed-131
Hyper Voice, Moon Blast, Psyshock, Shadow Ball

I am thinking Zoroark, but not too shoure (Can't spell...). If anyone can help with Pokemon choices and movesets that would be great.

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A little more info on level, IVs and EVs would be helpful in Sylveon's case.

Theme teams are fun, but they should be restricted to just fun. So put any Pokemon you feel like, find a standard moveset off Smogon, and you should be fine and happy.

RawrMonkey said:

Ew.. I'm going to assume this is a Protean Greninja. If it's not.. You need a new Greninja.

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Yeah, It's an ordinary Greninja. Do you know where I can get a Protean Froakie?

[/QUOTE]Scrap Quick Attack and Aerial Ace immediately.
Greninja is very versatile since it can go Special, Mixed, or Physical.
Max Speed and max whichever offense you're mainly using.
Shadow Sneak is a much better priority move.
Some other moves: Ice Beam, Dark Pulse, Gunk Shot, Low Kick, Rock Slide, Grass Knot, Scald, U-Turn.[/QUOTE]
I was definitely going to change his move set but since he is only LV. 45 (I think) I kept those.



[/QUOTE]A little more info on level, IVs and EVs would be helpful in Sylveon's case.[/QUOTE]
Unfortunetly, I got it in a trade from a friend, so I don't know it's IVs or EVs, and it is LV. 87. It was supposed to be a special Att sweeper. It has helped me a lot so far too.

I am planning on adding Bisharp, Noivern, and Weavile, to hopefully add a bit of type coverage. If you have a suggestion for my last member, please share.

PokeHunterBlack said:

Yeah, It's an ordinary Greninja. Do you know where I can get a Protean Froakie?

Scrap Quick Attack and Aerial Ace immediately.
Greninja is very versatile since it can go Special, Mixed, or Physical.
Max Speed and max whichever offense you're mainly using.
Shadow Sneak is a much better priority move.
Some other moves: Ice Beam, Dark Pulse, Gunk Shot, Low Kick, Rock Slide, Grass Knot, Scald, U-Turn.

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I was definitely going to change his move set but since he is only LV. 45 (I think) I kept those.

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A little more info on level, IVs and EVs would be helpful in Sylveon's case.[/QUOTE]
Unfortunetly, I got it in a trade from a friend, so I don't know it's IVs or EVs, and it is LV. 87. It was supposed to be a special Att sweeper. It has helped me a lot so far too.

I am planning on adding Bisharp, Noivern, and Weavile, to hopefully add a bit of type coverage. If you have a suggestion for my last member, please share.[/QUOTE]
Protean Frogadier are available in some Water Friend Safaris in X/Y. Ask for one in the Friend Safari exchange.

Greninja benefits most from being mixed because it gained Gunk Shot in Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire. This is an important move for it, as in X/Y, Greninja struggled to deal with healthy Fairy Pokemon:
-Hydro Pump/Low Kick
-Ice Beam
-Gunk Shot
-Dark Pulse/Hidden Power (Fire)/Extrasensory/Grass Knot
Nature: Naive
EVs: 40 Atk/216 SAtk/252 Spe
Item: Life Orb
Ability: Protean

Remember this Greninja is best used in Battle Spot formats (3v3 battles).

PokeHunterBlack said:

Yeah, It's an ordinary Greninja. Do you know where I can get a Protean Froakie?

[Quoting Mess :p]

I am planning on adding Bisharp, Noivern, and Weavile, to hopefully add a bit of type coverage. If you have a suggestion for my last member, please share.

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PlatinumDude already mentioned Friend Safari but it wouldn't hurt to ask in a trade request either. I'm sure there are plenty of spare Froakies lying around by now whether they're competitive or breedjects.

Looking at your other choices, your bulkiest Pokemon is Sylveon and I'm pretty sure it has imperfect stats. At best it's IVs are 31/26/31/31/21/25 with 124 EVs leftover, going by what info you provided. Doesn't look too bad, I know, but if you ever messed around with a stat calc you could see how every "insignificant" stat point could point the damage roll your way.

Now going back to bulk, you have none. So maybe a Scizor? It would give you a mega and I guess it looks assassin-y.

RawrMonkey said:

PlatinumDude already mentioned Friend Safari but it wouldn't hurt to ask in a trade request either. I'm sure there are plenty of spare Froakies lying around by now whether they're competitive or breedjects.

Looking at your other choices, your bulkiest Pokemon is Sylveon and I'm pretty sure it has imperfect stats. At best it's IVs are 31/26/31/31/21/25 with 124 EVs leftover, going by what info you provided. Doesn't look too bad, I know, but if you ever messed around with a stat calc you could see how every "insignificant" stat point could point the damage roll your way.

Now going back to bulk, you have none. So maybe a Scizor? It would give you a mega and I guess it looks assassin-y.

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Thank you for the idea, I will definitely consider it. I do have a scyther I could do a quick trade with too. can you suggest a moveset for it too?

PokeHunterBlack said:

Thank you for the idea, I will definitely consider it. I do have a scyther I could do a quick trade with too. can you suggest a moveset for it too?

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Scizor must always run Bullet Punch + Technician, as this combination is what makes it good:
-Swords Dance
-U-turn/Superpower/Knock Off
-Bullet Punch
-Roost
Nature: Impish
EVs: 248 HP/44 Atk/16 Def/200 SDef
Item: Scizorite
Ability: Technician

or
-Swords Dance
-Bug Bite
-Bullet Punch
-Superpower
Nature: Adamant/Jolly
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spe
Item: Life Orb/Scizorite
Ability: Technician

or
-U-turn
-Bullet Punch
-Superpower
-Knock Off/Pursuit
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 248 HP/252 Atk/8 SDef
Item: Choice Band
Ability: Technician

or
-U-turn/Superpower
-Bullet Punch
-Defog
-Roost
Nature: Impish
EVs: 248 HP/60 Def/200 SDef
Item: Scizorite
Ability: Technician

PlatinumDude said:

Scizor must always run Bullet Punch + Technician, as this combination is what makes it good:
-Swords Dance
-U-turn/Superpower/Knock Off
-Bullet Punch
-Roost
Nature: Impish
EVs: 248 HP/44 Atk/16 Def/200 SDef
Item: Scizorite
Ability: Technician

or
-Swords Dance
-Bug Bite
-Bullet Punch
-Superpower
Nature: Adamant/Jolly
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spe
Item: Life Orb/Scizorite
Ability: Technician

or
-U-turn
-Bullet Punch
-Superpower
-Knock Off/Pursuit
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 248 HP/252 Atk/8 SDef
Item: Choice Band
Ability: Technician

or
-U-turn/Superpower
-Bullet Punch
-Defog
-Roost
Nature: Impish
EVs: 248 HP/60 Def/200 SDef
Item: Scizorite
Ability: Technician

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Thanks for the movesets I will definitely try them.