Guide Type of Teams In VGC

[Scattered mind]

Hello everyone. I'm trying to find myself in the VGC meta and I was wondering while teambuilding, what type of teams are there. In OU, you have offensive teams, balance teams, stall teams, rain teams and Trick Room teams (and more). So is it similar in VGC?

 

[Perfect_Shot]

So far in the VGC meta, seems the only things working are just 'Goodstuff' teams where you stuff as many good Mons on your team as possible. Traditional weather teams are useless while the Primals are around, and stall is unlikely to survive the Primals as well. Trick Room will continue to work as long as it remains a speed control option, though it can be easier to play around when many of the best Pokemon are now around the base 90 mark and may or may not invest in Speed.

It's very hard to not call most of the teams around 'offense' based when games are usually very brief, regardless of how many supports are brought on both sides.

 

[One Approved]

Hello everyone. I'm trying to find myself in the VGC meta and I was wondering while teambuilding, what type of teams are there. In OU, you have offensive teams, balance teams, stall teams, rain teams and Trick Room teams (and more). So is it similar in VGC?

VGC doesn't have traditional roles for teams like OU does - Hyper Offense, Balance, Stall, etc. for a few reasons. Stall simply can't exist because there is too much firepower. Even defensive behemoths like Giratina, Lugia, or Blissey will fall rather quickly. On the switch side, Hyper Offesnsive teams don't usually work too well either because they die too easily. Most of the pokemon in VGC (not all, but most) have a significant amount of bulk as well as either offensive firepower, or very good support characteristics. In past formats, things like Metagross and Suicune have been popular while they've fallen from grace a lot in OU. Pokemon that aren't exceedingly bulky usually have to have a VERY good reason for being used. One such example would be Crobat - it's not particularly bulky, but it's immune to Earthquake (and Precipice Blades), sets up Tailwind, and can Taunt opposing Trick Room/Tailwind/Support move users.

Doubles is more concerned with synergy. You pick a strategy and attempt to execute it. It's not like OU where you have a strategy, but you also use the 6 pokemon to coordinate the best possible coverage of other threats. Your win condition changes every single match. In doubles you tend to stick to your initial plan a little bit more. If you're running a Trick Room team, you set up Trick Room nearly every game. If you watch Aaron Zheng's videos on youtube, you'll notice in his episodes with teams, he usually ends up bringing the same 2 or 3 pokemon multiple times in a day, while only switching up a couple of them based on what his opponent has.

For different types of teams, I've noticed, and this might be obvious, that Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre are the 2 most popular pokemon to build around. Groudon/Xerneas/Mega Kang or Mega Salamence is by far the most common core of 3 pokemon out there. If you need a starting point, I HIGHLY recommend starting with a team based around this core. Usually a Trick Room user or a Tailwind user like Cresselia or Talonflame get paired with these 3 as well. It's a fairly common core, so it's good to know what it does, it's a fairly simple team, and it's got enough versatility to see how you should react in many different situations.

 

[Scattered mind]

Xerneas+P.Groudon is basically all I hear about. What other teams are there? I am currently playing with Primal Groudon, Xerneas, Mega Kan and sometimes Mega Salamence, which is the only thing I find myself against. What's the recommended core for P.Kyogre?

 

[One Approved]

I haven't tested it yet so I'm not certain. Xerneas is popular to run alongside kyogre as well from what I've seen. It counters dragons well, and Pokemon like Palkia and Mega Ray can give it trouble. Some people like to run both primals, which is pretty cool. Also, the eternal question with the primal a is to run Max Speed IV or Min Speed IV to be prepared for trick room. Groudon seems to be more split from what I've seen, but Kyogre's typically run max speed plus Tawind support. I personally am a fan of Crobat and Whimsicott, as they have extremely fast Taunts and can shut down opposing trick room users. Crobat gets the added bonus of Super Fang to weaken things into water spout range consistently, as well as quick guard to block Fake Out. I also definitely recommend running Intimidate support alongside kyogre, because its physical bulk is not nearly as great as Groudon's is.

 

[Hassio]

Xerneas+P.Groudon is basically all I hear about. What other teams are there? I am currently playing with Primal Groudon, Xerneas, Mega Kan and sometimes Mega Salamence, which is the only thing I find myself against. What's the recommended core for P.Kyogre?

P-Don/Xer is actually the best team, but, if you are searching for a Kyogre team, it usually runs with M-Rayquaza (Delta Stream helps Kyogre to hit P-Don), and another flying team (Crobat, Togekiss, Talonflame...)

 

[iSharingan]

P-Don/Xer is actually the best team, but, if you are searching for a Kyogre team, it usually runs with M-Rayquaza (Delta Stream helps Kyogre to hit P-Don), and another flying team (Crobat, Togekiss, Talonflame...)

Actually, Air Lock is enough for it to hit P.Don, iirc. No need to waste your both your mega and second legendary on Quaza when the mega can better be used elsewhere. True, Primordial sea wont activate when Desolate Land vanishes, but Kyogre isn't as dependent (defensively) on its weather as Groudon is. I do find it infinitely entertaining when I have my max speed Kyogre and something else out and the slower Groudon sits pretty bc of desolate land. In comes my regular Quaza next to Kyogre and the foe is instantly down one primal (and their other mon takes a very solid hit, too - usually in KO range from another move/one of Quaza's moves)

Quaza always runs Dragon Ascent, anyway, so it's always an option if your Mega(s) [yes I have seen dual/triple mega teams that worked as each was used for different sets of threats] wont do as much as M.Quaza would.