Laga
Forever Grande
Nice with a new Topic of the Weak, this is a very interesting one indeed :]
What I usually like to do when I build a team is first of all think of a strategy. I think through a small list of things that will become the key to picking which pokemon I should use for the team. Here is a few points you can use to find out what direction your team is supposed to be heading.
If you have followed all of these three guidelines, you should be able to get an idea on which type of pokemon would fit your team. Here are a few examples where I pick a few guidelines, and then pick a Pokemon or 3 to fit each of the team structures.
Pro Tip: Usually if you are using TR, TW or Paralysis teams, you will want to first pick a pokemon to use the respective move for your team unless you are using weather, in which case you can just place the weather pokemon in the first spot.
~ Example #1 ~
This is mostly answering the first question as detailed as i can on how to find a starting point for your doubles team.
That is all I feel like writing about for now, and I definately hope i helped someone out there with Doubles teambuilding.
I am Probably going to edit this post to give it more examples of different pokemon fitting with different strategies, but since it is 1 AM here, later will do fine for me.
P.S: Remember that offensive synergy usually comes before defensive, (at least imo) since there is a lot less switching than in singles.
What I usually like to do when I build a team is first of all think of a strategy. I think through a small list of things that will become the key to picking which pokemon I should use for the team. Here is a few points you can use to find out what direction your team is supposed to be heading.
- Will my Team use Tailwind, Trick Room or try spreading Paralysis, and if so, which one?
- Will my team have weather, and if so, which kind of weather?
- What kind of playstyle do I want to use with this team (HyperOffense, Bulky Offense or Semi-Stall)
If you have followed all of these three guidelines, you should be able to get an idea on which type of pokemon would fit your team. Here are a few examples where I pick a few guidelines, and then pick a Pokemon or 3 to fit each of the team structures.
Pro Tip: Usually if you are using TR, TW or Paralysis teams, you will want to first pick a pokemon to use the respective move for your team unless you are using weather, in which case you can just place the weather pokemon in the first spot.
~ Example #1 ~
- I want to use a Trick Room team
- I want to use Sandstorm
- I want to use Bulky Offense
Tyranitar is obvious, so I won't use that as an example
A good pokemon to fit a Bulky Offensive Trick Room Sandstorm team for setting up Trick Room would be a Reuniclus. This is because Reuniclus is
1) immune to sandstorm
2) is bulky enough to take a hit or 2
3) hits extremely hard
The set you then would want to run is this one ~
Reuniclus @ Life Orb
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 172 HP / 28 Def / 252 SpA / 56 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Trick Room
- Psychic / Psyshock
- Focus Blast
- Shadow Ball / Protect
You would now want a physical attacker to go alongside that has some good offensive synergy with it, whilst being slow enough to fit Trick Room. A pokemon that I would see working well alongside a Reuinclus as a lead on a Sandstorm Trick Room team would be Scrafty. Scrafty is effectively the Trick Room, half dark type version of Hitmontop, being slower but carrying the same handy feature in Intimidate + Fake Out. It can also use Moxie for semi-sweeping in Trick Room. Fake Out also renders one of the opposing pokemon useless the first turn, making it easier for Reuniclus to set up Trick Room. It also has access to Drain Punch, allowing it to heal some if it's health back to semi-negate Sandstrom damage that is taken throughout the match.
Here is the set I would use ~
Scrafty @ Chople Berry / Sitrus Berry
Trait: Intimidate / Moxie
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Fake Out
- Drain Punch
- Crunch
- Detect
As you can see, both of these pokemon are built to provide Trick Room support, whilst both being bulky hard hitters, and neaither of them are hurt that much by Sand damage.
A good pokemon to fit a Bulky Offensive Trick Room Sandstorm team for setting up Trick Room would be a Reuniclus. This is because Reuniclus is
1) immune to sandstorm
2) is bulky enough to take a hit or 2
3) hits extremely hard
The set you then would want to run is this one ~
Reuniclus @ Life Orb
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 172 HP / 28 Def / 252 SpA / 56 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Trick Room
- Psychic / Psyshock
- Focus Blast
- Shadow Ball / Protect
You would now want a physical attacker to go alongside that has some good offensive synergy with it, whilst being slow enough to fit Trick Room. A pokemon that I would see working well alongside a Reuinclus as a lead on a Sandstorm Trick Room team would be Scrafty. Scrafty is effectively the Trick Room, half dark type version of Hitmontop, being slower but carrying the same handy feature in Intimidate + Fake Out. It can also use Moxie for semi-sweeping in Trick Room. Fake Out also renders one of the opposing pokemon useless the first turn, making it easier for Reuniclus to set up Trick Room. It also has access to Drain Punch, allowing it to heal some if it's health back to semi-negate Sandstrom damage that is taken throughout the match.
Here is the set I would use ~
Scrafty @ Chople Berry / Sitrus Berry
Trait: Intimidate / Moxie
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Fake Out
- Drain Punch
- Crunch
- Detect
As you can see, both of these pokemon are built to provide Trick Room support, whilst both being bulky hard hitters, and neaither of them are hurt that much by Sand damage.
This is mostly answering the first question as detailed as i can on how to find a starting point for your doubles team.
That is all I feel like writing about for now, and I definately hope i helped someone out there with Doubles teambuilding.
I am Probably going to edit this post to give it more examples of different pokemon fitting with different strategies, but since it is 1 AM here, later will do fine for me.
P.S: Remember that offensive synergy usually comes before defensive, (at least imo) since there is a lot less switching than in singles.