Team Goals
- Thread starter AdrianD
- Start date
The first thing you need to do is figuring out what kind of team you are using. Are you going to use a specific weather, Trick Room, and those kind of things. Each Pokemon needs to be able to support others. If your Pokemon can't work together, you won't get far. In VGC, having Protect on a Pokemon is very standard. It not only lets you scout, but also if that Pokemon is weak to one of the opponent's moves, your other Pokemon has a chance to take it out before you lose your other Pokemon.
You also want to consider moves that hit both opponents such as Rock Slide and Blizzard.
Here is a link to a video of the US National Championship Finals last year: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F67nI6i92FQ
While I may not have much experience participating in the VGC, I do have experience of judging US Nationals VGC a couple years.
You also want to consider moves that hit both opponents such as Rock Slide and Blizzard.
Here is a link to a video of the US National Championship Finals last year: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F67nI6i92FQ
While I may not have much experience participating in the VGC, I do have experience of judging US Nationals VGC a couple years.
Yeah, as KA said, figuring out the kind of team you want to use is the first step. In VGC which is a doubles format, a lot of teams are based off of a single idea, and they use a lot of pokemon that revolve around it. This is different than singles where you want your team to be balanced and where diversity is a lot more prevalent. (Diversity is good in VGC, don't get me wrong, but you don't generally strive to achieve it like you would in singles.) In VGC, it's a lot easier to revolve teams around ideas like Rain, Trick Room, or Tailwind.
After you figure out what you want to build your team around, it becomes a lot easier selecting the pokemon you want to use. You'll want pokemon that both support your team's purpose while keeping other teams in the VGC meta in check. For example, if you're using a team based around Rain Dance, the pokemon you want to add to your team become a very select few. You'll want some of the pokemon to exploit rain, and you'll want others to check the rest of the metagame, but you can eliminate pokemon that rain hinders.
For example, Tyranitar. It's a great pokemon in the VGC metagame because it sets up sand, it checks a lot of threats (like Cresselia), and it's bulky and powerful. But, Tyranitar would severely hinder a rain team from doing well because it sets up weather of its own, so you know that you obviously don't want to use Tyranitar. This is an obvious example, but you can eliminate several other popular VGC pokemon like Heatran, Ninetales, Zapdos, and others because they either hinder your rain team or do not benefit from having rain up. Instead you can look at other threats like Ludicolo, Kingdra, or Scizor because they benefit from having rain up, and they can also do serious damage to opposing teams.
I know that I used examples from older formats, but the process still applies for X and Y. Get an idea of what you want to build your team around first, and then select pokemon that either benefit from or support your team while checking the rest of the metagame. I hope I helped, good luck with your teambuilding!
After you figure out what you want to build your team around, it becomes a lot easier selecting the pokemon you want to use. You'll want pokemon that both support your team's purpose while keeping other teams in the VGC meta in check. For example, if you're using a team based around Rain Dance, the pokemon you want to add to your team become a very select few. You'll want some of the pokemon to exploit rain, and you'll want others to check the rest of the metagame, but you can eliminate pokemon that rain hinders.
For example, Tyranitar. It's a great pokemon in the VGC metagame because it sets up sand, it checks a lot of threats (like Cresselia), and it's bulky and powerful. But, Tyranitar would severely hinder a rain team from doing well because it sets up weather of its own, so you know that you obviously don't want to use Tyranitar. This is an obvious example, but you can eliminate several other popular VGC pokemon like Heatran, Ninetales, Zapdos, and others because they either hinder your rain team or do not benefit from having rain up. Instead you can look at other threats like Ludicolo, Kingdra, or Scizor because they benefit from having rain up, and they can also do serious damage to opposing teams.
I know that I used examples from older formats, but the process still applies for X and Y. Get an idea of what you want to build your team around first, and then select pokemon that either benefit from or support your team while checking the rest of the metagame. I hope I helped, good luck with your teambuilding!
Listen to TPO3 and King Arceus. They know what they are saying. If you go and scout out the forums on people who post their ideas, you will realize that all the Pokemon in the team support one another. No single Pokemon can hold up the whole team. While they used weather teams to get their point across, there are also many other types of teams that are out there. Stall teams aren't as popular, but can be effective in the right hands.
Another thing that you might want to address is the point of Natures, IV's, and EV's. In X and Y it becomes easier to do EV training. EV stands for Effort Values, and IV stands for Individual Values. I would take up a ton of space writing it, but why do that when it is already written down?
Another thing that you might want to address is the point of Natures, IV's, and EV's. In X and Y it becomes easier to do EV training. EV stands for Effort Values, and IV stands for Individual Values. I would take up a ton of space writing it, but why do that when it is already written down?