For some Pokemon players, online competitive battling is a whole other world that strays quite far from the comfortably easy playthroughs. While there’s certainly a lot to take into account, it’s not necessarily rocket science.
Of course, what matters is your team, and how it will fare against its competition. If there’s any game that requires multiple parts to work like a well-oiled machine, it’s Pokemon. Whether it’s Singles you want to get into or VGC, these ten factors will determine your success in that field, and they’re what you need to look into when building a good competitive team.
For more info on teambuilding and competitive battling, check out Smogon.
10 Competitive Format
Before even building a team, you have to have an idea of what kind of Pokemon battles you’ll find yourself in. The most popular and official format is that used in the Pokemon Video Game Championships, or VGC. There’s also the standard six-on-six Doubles, and of course Singles. There are also a few off-the-beaten-path formats like Balanced Hackmons and Metronome, accessible on Pokemon Showdown.
You can’t just throw the same team into every competitive format and expect them to succeed. Each format has its own unique metagame and commonly seen strategies, and most Pokemon are more viable in certain formats than others.
9 Tiers
Of course, there are levels to every single competitive format. Some Pokemon are more viable than others in their respective format, and they will be used much more often. This is why tiers exist, to make sure that Pokemon of the same level of viability are competing against each other. Smogon’s tiers for both Singles and Doubles go as follows, from highest to lowest: Anything Goes (AG), Ubers, OverUsed (OU), UnderUsed (UU), and so on, with OU generally being considered to be the premier competitive tier.
Knowing your tier is important, not only for your choices for Pokemon but more importantly, what Pokemon are most commonly used there.
8 Specific Team Niches
What’s also useful to know is if any kind of faddish team style is commonly used in said format or tier. There will come certain times where the metagame is dominated by a specific team niche, like teams based on weather such as rain or sun, or certain field effects like Terrain or Trick Room. Usually, they have tell-tale members telling you what they do. You could either play into those strategies or build a team meant to stop them.
In terms of more general team styles, there are a few options. You could build a high offense team with multiple options of attack, or stall teams with checks for every kind of team. You could even build around one high-octane attacker with other Pokemon checking for its weaknesses.
7 Roles & Synergy
Like positions in sports, certain Pokemon are designated for certain functions on certain teams, and knowing their roles is key for both your team and your opponents’. The most common ones to keep an eye on in Singles include leads that set up hazards like Stealth Rocks, walls that absorb hits, pivots that can switch into most threats safely, tanks that take hits and hit back, wallbreakers that damage full HP Pokemon, and sweepers that knock opposing Pokemon out. Some less commonly seen ones include suicide leads that have moves like Explosion, clerics that heal teammates, and weather or Trick Room setters specific to those teams.
While these are also true to some extent in Doubles or VGC, synergy is much more of a factor there. More than clear-cut roles for each Pokemon, double battle teams put more focus on their ability to work in concert with each other and not bring the other down (e.g. using Earthquake with a non-Flying-type ally).
6 Overall Stats
Once you have an idea of what kind of team you want to build, then you can look at your options for Pokemon. You should have an idea of what Pokemon are allowed in your tier, but more importantly, you’ll want to see if their base stat totals are up to snuff.
Of course, the total isn’t everything. The distribution of said stats is just as important, if not more so. 90% of the time, you’ll want to pick Pokemon that are well-fitted for the roles that you’ve placed on your team. A rule of thumb to note is that for sweepers, either Attack or Special Attack, and Speed should be relatively high. Speed usually doesn’t matter as much with defensive Pokemon, as long as their Defense, Special Defense, and HP are good enough.
5 Pokemon -Types
Now, there’s the discussion of typing, which is something that more casual players have a good grasp of. It’s important to make sure your entire team doesn’t get killed by a single type, and every team member’s backside is covered.
This is just as true with your own moves. Offensively, it’s important to have a check for not just every type, but every type combination, especially in tiers where one-weakness typings like Water-Ground and Bug-Steel are pretty common. Particularly offensive Pokemon definitely wouldn’t mind having attacks of different types to cover their weaknesses.
4 Moves And Move Types
Speaking of which, there’s not only the types of the moves to take into account but their functions. There are, of course, your attacking moves, the moves that get the battle going. As mentioned, make sure you have attacking moves that can check any Pokemon type and type combo, and make sure they pack good base power (the benchmark is around 90-ish base power). A secondary effect of some sort would be nice.
Of course, said secondary effects can be given out by moves on their own. There are status moves to watch out for, whether it’s for boosting stats, inflicting status conditions on your opponent, protecting your side, or setting up field effects. In double battles, you also have to watch out for spread attacking moves and moves that affect targeting like Ally Switch or Follow Me.
3 Abilities
What’s become just as important as the stats and types are the abilities – a mechanic introduced in Generation III. For some Pokemon, their subpar stats are moot and they become fantastic competitive options thanks to a certain ability. In Singles, Mimikyu became a popular sweeper despite mid-grade at best stats thanks to its Disguise ability. Meanwhile, Weezing and Regigigas have dominated the Doubles and VGC metagame thanks to the former’s Neutralizing Gas ability.
Some Pokemon don’t necessarily need great abilities to make things work, but some Pokemon rely heavily on them for viability. Whatever the case may be, it helps to take into account potential abilities both for your team and your opponents'.
2 Held Items
Another thing to watch out for is held items. While they’re not seen in playthroughs of the game, they can make or break your chances in competitive battles. Held item know-how is incredibly useful for utilizing them on your team and expecting what the other team’s Pokemon might have on them.
They’re a particularly interesting kink to watch out for in conjunction with the roles certain Pokemon play. A Pokemon like Garchomp might run a set with Rocky Helmet to add onto its Rough Skin damage, or a Choice Scarf to make it attack faster than expected. Some Pokemon are inseparable from certain held items, like Nidoking with a Life Orb or Chansey with an Eviolite.
1 Nature, EVs, & IVs
A few more details to check for are the little additions and reductions totaled out to your Pokemon’s stats, namely: their Natures, IVs, and EVs. Nature enhances one stat and lowers another. Depending on the Pokemon’s role, you should have an idea of what Nature boosts the more important stat and lowers an insignificant one. There are also the Effort Values (EVs) and Individual Values (IVs), which are extra little additions to your Pokemon’s stats that can determine how well they will play their roles.
While Natures are more easily achievable thanks to Sword and Shield’s new Mint items, it’s a bit harder to get good EVs and especially IVs. EVs are gained by defeating specific Pokemon in battle repeatedly, maxing out to 255 for a stat and 510 total. IVs are genetic in certain Pokemon, and you can only get suitable IVs (i.e. 31 for all stats) through extensive breeding.
NEXT: 10 Pokemon That Fell Off From Competitive Viability
